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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


Cbe  Rouse  Decoration  Series 


CEILINGS  AND  THEIR  DECORATION 


THE  HOUSE  DECORATION 
SERIES 

Volumes  in  Preparation 
Chimneypieces  and  Inglenooks. 
Staircases. 
Porches. 
Windows. 
House  Antiquities  and  Curios 


Study  for  Ceiling  of  the  Banqueting  Hall.  Whitehall  Palace. 


CEILINGS  AND  THEIR 
DECORATION 

ART  AND  ARCHAEOLOGY 


By 
GUY  CADOGAN  ROTHERY 

AUTHOR  OF 

4 '  SYMBOLS,  EMBLEMS  AND  DEVICES," 

ETC. 


NEW    YORK 
FREDERICK     V    STOKES    COMPA 
PUBLISHERS 


nxum 
tit 


V 


•    •  •.••••,•••••• 


•        •  "  a 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE 

In  this  series  an  attempt  is  made  to  deal 
with  the  archaeological  and  art  side  of 
buildings.  With  this  end  in  view  the  main 
features  of  architecture,  which  concern  at 
once  comfort  and  aesthetics,  are  treated  in 
separate  volumes,  the  evolution  from  early 
times  to  our  own  day  being  traced  as 
closely  as  possible.  While  coming  essen- 
tially within  the  demain  of  popular 
archaeology  and  art,  an  endeavour  is  made 
to  draw  practical  deductions  from  these 
studies.  A  reasonable  interest  in,  and 
reverence  for,  antiquity  can,  and  ought,  to 
assist  in  applying  art  to  actual  require- 
ments of  everyday  life.  For,  after  all,  one 
of  the  chief  advantages  of  an  appreciation 
of  the  efforts  of  past  generations  is  that  it 
teaches  us  what  is  worth  preservation, 
what  we  may  usefully  strive  to  restore, 
and  how  we  may  improve  upon  old  prac- 
tices to  meet  changed  circumstances. 

221292 


vi         PUBLISHER'S    NOTE 

The  ceiling  is  so  important  an  expanse 
in  every  room,  be  it  big  or  little,  that  we 
cannot  afford  to  ignore  it  from  the  aesthetic 
point  of  view.  Unadorned  or  badly  treated 
it  becomes  painfully  obtrusive.  Our 
ancestors  understood  this  well,  and  hap- 
pily we  are  once  more  recognising  the 
ceiling's  importance  in  the  scheme  of 
house  decoration. 

While  the  subject  has  not  been  alto- 
gether overlooked  in  art  and  architectural 
literature,  there  has  hitherto  been  little 
effort  to  collect  and  collate  the  information 
found  scattered  in  many  works,  or  to 
record  results  of  the  study  of  actual  exam- 
ples. It  is  therefore  felt  that  it  is  fitting 
to  begin  the  series  with  the  present  essay. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.      EVOLUTION  OF  ROOF  AND  CEILING  1 

II.      CEILINGS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS      .  .        17 

III.  THE  BYZANTINE  AND  THE 

MAURESQUE  ....        40 

IV.  MOSAICS 62 

V.      GOTHIC   CEILINGS        ....        78 

VI.      THE   RENAISSANCE       ....        97 

VII.     THE  RENAISSANCE  IN   ENGLAND         .      115 

VIII.      TIMBER        AND         CARVED         WOOD 

CEILINGS 133 

IX.     SOME  CHURCH   CEILINGS   .          .  .162 

X.      PLASTER  WORK            .          .          .  .182 

XI.      EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       .  .      207 

XII.      PICTORIAL   CEILINGS  IN   ENGLAND  .      224 

XIII.  PRESENT  DAY   PRACTICE    .           .  .      249 

XIV.  SOME  NOTES  ON  LIGHTING  .  .  265 
BIBLIOGRAPHY  .  .  .  .273 
INDEX 277 


Vll 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Study  for  Ceiling  of  the  Banqueting  Hall, 
Whitehall  Palace,  by  Peter  Paul 
Rubens        Frontispiece 


Loggia,  Court  of  San  Damaso,  Vatican, 
Rome.  Coloured  modelled  plaster 
work  by  Giovanni  da  Udine.  Paint- 
ing by  Raphael's  pupils.  (From 
Ludwig  Griiner)      .     .     .    Facing  page  10 


Loggia,  Court  of  San  Damaso,  Vatican, 
Rome.  Coloured  plaster  work  by 
Giovanni  da  Udine.  Paintings  by 
Raphael.    (From  L.  Griiner)  .     .     .     ,,     20 


Line  Ornaments:  guilloche,  double  fret, 
crenelated  and  Greek  key,  broken 
batoon,  double  crenelated,  Greek 
key,  sloping  5  wave,  voluted  wave, 
voluted  and  crested  wave,  undulating 

wave Page  28 

ix 


x       LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Details  from  the  First  Floor,  Loggia, 
Court  of  San  Damaso,  Vatican, 
Rome.  Painted  by  da  Udine. 
(From  L.  Gruner)     .     .     .     Facing  page  30 


Roman  Geometric  and  Mosaic  work  from 
the  vaults  of  the  Temple  of  Bacchus 
and  Baths  of  Diocletian,  Rome        Page  33 

Plan  and  Sectional  Elevation,  Hall  of  the 
Two  Sisters,  Alhambra.  (From 
Owen  Jones) Facing  page  40 

The  Mihrab,  Cordova  Cathedral  (Spanish 
Mauresque  from  Girault  de  Prangey, 
"  Monuments  Arabes  ");  Mosque  of 
Meshjid-i-Shah,  Ispahan  (Persian 
Arabesque  work,  from  Pascal  Coste)   ,,     54 


Vaulted  Ceiling  in  the  Farnesina  Palace, 
Rome.  By  Raphael.  (From  L. 
Gruner) 


Ceiling  in  Small  Gallery,  Villa  Santi, 
Rome.  By  Raphael.  (From  L. 
Gruner) ,,70 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS     xi 

Gothic  Pendant,  Henry  VII's  Chapel, 
Westminster  Abbey.  Original  draw- 
ing by  P.  J.  S.  Perceval  ....    Page  82 


Gothic  Pendant,  Rosslyn  Chapel.    Origi- 
nal drawing  by  P.  J.  S.  Perceval      .     ,,83 


Gothic    Tracery,    St    George's    Chapel, 

Windsor  Castle        .     .     .    Facing  page  84 


Upper  Cornice,  Bishop  Beckington's 
Shrine,  Wells  Cathedral.  Painting  in 
wood  on  Groined  Ceiling,  St  Alban's 
Abbey,  prior  to  restoration.  (From 
J.  K.  Colling,  "Gothic  Ornament  ")  ,,  90 


Detail  from  Portico  Ceiling,  Farnesina 
Palace,  Rome.  By  Raphael.  (From 
Griiner).  Painted  Plaster  Ceiling  by 
George  Richardson.  Plaster  work 
by  Rose ,,100 


First    Floor    Ceilings,    Hotel    de    Ville, 

Tours.    By  M.  Laloux ,,  112 


xii     LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plaster  Ceilings  by  (a)  Inigo  Jones, 
(b)  William  Kent,  (c)  Isaac  Ware. 
(From  William  Kent)     .    Facing  page  126 


Timber  Roof,  Trinity  Chapel,  Cirencester 
Church.  (From  Brandon's  "  Open 
Timber  Roofs  ").  Plaster  Ceiling, 
Houghton,  by  Isaac  Ware    .     .     .     ,,  134 


Double  Hammer-beam  Roof,  Knapton 
Church,  Norfolk.  (From  Brandon's 
"  Open  Timber  Roof  ").  Portico, 
Villa  Madama,  Rome.  By  Raphael. 
(From  L.  Griiner) ,,142 


Carved  Wood  Ceiling,  with  coloured 
stucco,  (a)  Wood  foundation,  with 
slight  decoration,  (b)  One  coffer 
and  border  of  the  same  ceiling,  with 
elaborate  stucco  decoration.  Design 
by  Sebastian  Serlio ,,  ij 


Ceiling,  Chapel  Royal,  St  James'  Palace. 
Attributed  to  Holbein.  (From  C.  J. 
Richardson)  ,,  160 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS    xiii 

The  Sistine  Chapel,  Rome.     By  Michel 

Angelo  Buonarrotti       .     Facing  page  168 


Loggia  of  Psyche,  Palazzo  Farnese, 
Rome.  Painting  by  Raphael.  Stucco 
decoration  by  Giovanni  da  Udine. 
(From  L.  Griiner).  The  Old  German 
Chapel,  St  James'  Palace.  (From 
W.  H.  Pyne) ,,178 


Plaster  Ceiling,  from  old  Boston  House, 
near  Brentford.  Combination  of 
strapwork,  geometric  bands  with 
Renaissance  raised  decoration,  and 
modelled  panels  representing  the 
Virtues.    (From  C.  J.  Richardson)      „  184 


Ceiling  from  Bedchamber,  old  Boston 
Manor  House,  near  Brentford.  Ceil- 
ing from  Chapel,  Sir  Peter  Paul 
Pindar's  House,  formerly  in  Bishops- 
gate  Street,  E.C.  Details  from  the 
above  ceilings,  from  the  ceiling  in 
the  Great  Chamber,  Boston  Manor 
House,  and  from  the  Chapel  Royal, 
St  James's.   (From  C.  J.  Richardson)  ,,  192 


xiv    LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plaster  Ceiling  at  Houghton.  By  Isaac 
Ware.  Part  of  plaster  framing  on 
ceiling  of  Banqueting  Hall,  White- 
hall      Facing  page   202 


Fresco  Ceiling,  Stanza  derEliodoro,  the 
Vatican,  Rome.  By  Raphael.  (From 
L.  Gr iiner)  ,,  218 

Grand  Staircase,  Kensington  Palace.    By 

William  Kent.    (From  W.  H.  Pyne)   ,,  244 


CEILINGS 

CHAPTER  I 

EVOLUTION  OF  ROOF  AND  CEILING 

All  early  examples  of  human  habitations 
are  extremely  perishable  in  kind,  for  in 
the  nascent  stages  of  architecture  the  pro- 
totype of  man's  dwelling  is  the  nest, 
blending  with,  and  proving  little  more 
than  an  excrescence  on  the  natural  sur- 
roundings. These  nests  may  be  made  of 
a  bundle  of  reeds,  some  lithesome  tree 
branches  more  or  less  cunningly  inter- 
twined, bent  to  the  builder's  require- 
ments, and  so  disposed  as  to  form  a 
shelter.  Elsewhere  we  may  find  a  hollow 
scooped  out  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  as  in  the 
troglodytes'  caves;  or  more  laboriously 
contrived  high  up  the  cliffside,  like  those 
of  the  gitanos  in  Spain,  or  man's  imme- 
morial refuges  in  those  long  ranges  of 
mountains  sweeping  with  a  north  easterly 
i  A 


2  CEILINGS 

trend  across  Southern  France  well  nigh 
from  the  Pyrennees  to  the  Alpine  regions. 
This  type  we  see  also  in  the  recluse  cells 
of  Nipaul  and  Thibet. 

Even  more  rudimentary  is  the  hole  dug 
in  the  ground,  partly  concealed  by  a  pro- 
tecting wind  and  rain  screen,  composed  of 
mud,  which  eventually  became  a  built  over 
semi-dome.  Types  of  these  we  may  see 
in  the  Dane  or  Dene  holes  of  Essex  and 
Kent;  or  further  afield  in  those  shell- 
proof  excavations  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tugela  into  which  General  Cronje  crowded 
his  motley  army  with  all  its  lengthy  tail 
of  women  and  children,  only  a  brief  tei 
years  ago. 

In  speaking  of  any  architecture  as  ex- 
tremely perishable,  reference  is  made  only 
to  the  structures  themselves,  for  the  prin- 
ciples involved,  the  types  presented,  are 
persistent  and  lie  at  the  base  of  our  most 
daring  practices  of  yesterday  and  to-day, 
evidence  of  their  origin  being  sufficiently 
abundant  all  around  us.  It  was  clearly 
from  these  types  that  the  more  elaborate 
structures  were  evolved.  We  have 
another  great  source  of  inspiration  in  the 


I 


ROOF    AND    CEILING  3 

beehive  huts  common  t6  primitive  races 
the  world  over,  and  generally  constructed 
of  bent  bamboos,  interwoven  with  reeds, 
with  here  and  there  stronger  timber  posts, 
and  provided  with  a  domed  roof.  This 
dome  sometimes  assumes  the  conical,  and 
thus  becomes  the  rudimentary  pinnacled 
roof  and  the  tower.  Such  reed  and  rush 
form  of  coverings,  of  course,  survive  in 
our  straw-thatched  roofs.  Thus  for  a 
long  time  in  modest  abodes  roof  and  ceil- 
ing were  one.  Anthony  a  Wood  says  that 
chambers  and  humble  dwellings  of  old 
had  no  ceilings,  u  a  Custom  "  he  adds, 
"  not  uncommon  anciently  in  the  upper 
rooms  of  our  colleges  at  Oxford;  these 
were  vaulted  with  reeds  bruised  and  flat- 
tened/* the  true  forerunners  of  the  flat, 
pliable  laths. 

Another  source  of  the  dome  is  the  dug- 
out nest  with  mud  screen,  which  gradually 
grew  into  the  hummocky  hut,  built  of 
sodden  clay,  of  clumps  of  turf,  or  of  the 
more  regularly  formed  bricks,  sun  dried 
or  burnt.  It  is,  however,  well  to  note  here 
that  the  term  camera  which  was  applied 
in  Rome  to  the  barrel-vaulted  chamber, 


4  CEILINGS 

and  eventually  came  to  denote  a  room  of 
any  kind,  was  originally  applied  to  any- 
thing covered.  Herodotus  so  applied  it  to 
a  wagon.  The  same  term  was  used  to 
describe  the  garden  trellis  work.  Both 
these  are  sources  of  the  barrel  dome  :  the 
tent  on  wheels,  and  it  is  interesting  to 
remember  that  we  call  a  certain  pattern 
of  barrel  vault — with  flat  ends — a  wagon 
ceiling,  and  we  apply  the  same  word  to  the 
trellis-work  frame  of  the  rush  built  hut. 

The  flat  dome  is  a  common  enough 
feature  over  large  tracts  of  Asia  and  also 
of  Africa,  that  is,  in  low-lying  land 
where  timber  is  scarce,  and  mud  or  sand 
plentiful.  Ferguson  points  out  that 
Bengal  is  without  stone  or  wood,  and  in 
its  advanced  stage  is  essentially  a  country 
of  brick  buildings.  "The  Bengalis/ '  he 
says,  "  taking  advantage  of  the  elasticity 
of  the  bamboo,  universally  employ  in  their 
dwellings  a  curvilinear  form  of  roof,  which 
has  become  so  familiar  to  the  eyes  that 
they  consider  it  beautiful.  It  is  so  in 
fact  when  bamboo  and  thatch  are  the 
materials  employed,  but  when  translated 
into  stone  or  brick  architecture,  its  taste 


I 


ROOF    AND    CEILING  5 

is  more  questionable."  This  is  a  criticism 
that  can  scarcely  be  sustained  as  regards 
interior  effects.  At  all  events  it  is  a 
survival  which  has  become  a  permanent 
feature  of  Bengal  architecture,  finding  its 
way  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  Delhi, 
and  reaching  Lahore  some  hundred  years 
later.  In  course  of  time  the  flat  dome 
often  became  concealed  from  the  outside, 
the  building  presenting  a  rectangular  form 
on  the  exterior,  but  inside,  the  roof  or 
ceiling  shows  itself  as  a  series  of  very 
shallow,  saucer-like  domes,  one  dome  to 
each  chamber,  or  a  series  of  domes  cover- 
ing one  long  chamber. 

Again  we  have  the  stupas  or  relic 
mounds,  which  the  Buddhists  have  carried 
in  ever  varying  shapes  over  a  great  part 
of  Asia  and  the  East.  Professor 
MacDonell  traces  the  stupa  in  its  earliest 
existing  examples  to  a  solid  mound,  sur- 
rounded by  a  processional  gallerv. 
surmounted  by  a  tee,  or  ceremonial 
umbrella.  As  time  advanced  the  stupa 
was  provided  with  a  chamber,  of  course, 
vaulted,  and  it  became  less  squat,  more 
like  a  cone,  and  as  the  structures  were  set 


6  CEILINGS 

up  in  the  eastwardly  march  of  Buddhism 
they  grew  taller,  the  tee  especially  shoot- 
ing upwards,  one  umbrella  being  super- 
imposed upon  another  until  it  grew  into 
the  Burmese  and  Chinese  pagoda.  Un- 
questionably the  stupa,  as  traced  by  Pro- 
fessor MacDonell  presents  one  of  the 
most  striking  instances  of  the  disturbing 
and  often  expanding  force  of  local  sur- 
roundings. It  must  be  remembered  in  this 
case  the  form  of  building  was  carried  from 
a  flat,  treeless  region  to  tall  timbered 
lands.  But  if  the  stupa  is  merely  a 
specialised  description  of  cairn,  at  once  a 
monument  as  well  as  a  decency  tomb,  it 
nevertheless  may  be  taken  as  a  prototype 
of  a  dwelling  for  the  living.  Professor 
MacDonell  says  the  earliest  extant 
example  of  the  stupa  is  that  at  Piprahwa, 
which  probably  dates  back  to  450  B.C. 
More  primitive  types  must,  however,  have 
been  put  up  ages  before  that. 

The  stupa  is  a  mound,  in  shape  it  is 
moulded  on  the  low  reed  framed  and  mud 
plastered  hut.  The  processional  gallery 
round  the  top,  and  the  encircling  fence 
placed  at  some  distance  round  the  mound, 


ROOF    AND    CEILING  7 

although  for  ages  past  built  of  stone, 
heavily  carved,  still  retain  the  forms  and 
patterns  of  wooden  palings.  However,  in 
many  regions  it  is  probable  that  the  tombs 
formed  the  pattern  of  the  more  permanent 
kinds  of  dwelling  houses.  Man  built 
houses  of  reeds  or  wood  for  his  own  habita- 
tion, but  of  stone  for  that  of  the  dead.  This 
is  quite  natural,  for  when  men  were  con- 
tent with  the  tent  and  the  reed  hut,  sur- 
rounding conditions  made  it  necessary  to 
provide  more  substantial  protection  for  the 
dead.  Shallow  sepulture  with  the  built- 
over  cairn  presented  the  easiest  and  most 
obvious  method  at  once  to  keep  out  enemies 
and  scavenging  animals,  and  to  keep  in 
the  departed,  for,  according  to  most 
ghost  and  vampire  lore,  the  wandering 
"shadow  "  or  spirit  was  powerless  with- 
out the  body.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
tee,  or  umbrella  expansion  on  the  stupa, 
and  even  over  the  pagoda,  is  topped  by  a 
vase-shaped  ornament,  which  we  may  take 
to  be  a  simulacrum  of  the  head  of  a 
prisoner  or  slave  usually  placed  on  the 
umbrella  spike  to  mount  guard  and  scare 
away  evil  spirits  from  the  tomb  and  the 


8  CEILINGS 

dwelling  house.  Indeed,  the  weather- 
cocks, the  staff  supporting  fluttering  bunt- 
ing, and  the  floreated,  often  horned 
pinnacles  which  adorn  our  roofs  are  merely 
survivals  of  the  older  grim  guardians — the 
grinning  skulls  of  prisoners  and  slaves,  or 
of  fierce  buffaloes,  which  leaders  of  men 
placed  over  or  immediately  in  front  of  their 
places  of  abode.  As  Herodotus  said  of  the 
Scythians,  "  The  reason  that  the  heads 
(of  dead  enemies)  are  set  up  on  high  is  in 
order  that  the  whole  house  may  be  under 
their  protection/ '  and  the  powers  of  the 
air  kept  away.  The  same  practice  per- 
sisted widely  down  to  our  own  days. 
We  may  see  its  modification  in  many 
islands  of  the  Malay  Archipelago,  where 
natives  place  long  poles  with  horned  orna- 
ments before  their  houses,  frequently 
adorning  the  roofs  with  horns,  further 
modifications  of  which  may  be  traced  in 
the  curved  lines  of  the  pagoda  roof  and 
their  boss-like  vertical  ornaments.* 

*  Lieut-Col.  Sir  Richard  Temple,  in  speaking  of 
the  wild  Was  of  Burma,  says  that  human  sacrifice, 
which  prevailed  all  over  Burma  until  recent  times, 
"  has  always  risen  out  of  the  idea  of  self-protection. 
In    all    its    forms    its    object   has    been    to   create    a 


ROOF    AND    CEILING  9 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  futile 
weathercock  and  too  often  meaningless 
finial  have  a  fairly  ancient,  and  at  all 
events  awe-inspiring  ancestry.  Nor  need 
we  hesitate  to  attribute  the  same  origin  to 
the  wreathed  horned  ox  skulls  which  the 
Greeks  used  with  such  good  effect  to  adorn 
their  friezes  and  fill  their  metopes.  These 
Greek  bucrania,  with  the  other  horned 
beasts  employed  by  Asiatic  architects  as 
capitals  to  their  columns,  such  as,  the 
Indian  adaptation  of  two  kneeling 
elephants  or  tusked  elephant  heads,  often 
found  their  way  into  the  decoration  of  flat 
surfaces,  and  to  this  day,  form  a 
permanent  motif  in  internal  frieze  and 
ceiling  adornment. 

Another,  remarkable  funeral  monument 
and  abode  of  the  dead,  the  pyramid,  is  a 
copy  in  lasting  stone  of  the  less  enduring 
dwelling  of  the  living.  In  this  instance 
it  is  the  nomad's  patchwork  tent  of  skins 

guardian  spirit  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the 
sacrifiant,  the  idea  being  that  the  haunting  ghost 
of  the  victim  should  hover  about  the  spot  and  keep 
off  all  the  evil-minded  strangers."  He  adds:  "  Not 
the  least  interesting  point  about  this  practice  is  that 
where  it  is  breaking  down,  substitution  of  the  heads 
of  animals  for  human  heads  takes  place." 


io  CEILINGS 

or  rusK  mats  which  served  as  a  model. 
Here,  too,  we  have  a  great  pile  with  small 
chambers  deep  in  the  mass,  wherein 
honoured  remains  could  be  safe  from 
human  enemies,  ravening  carnivora  and 
from  floods.  One  result  of  this  evolution 
from  the  cairn  and  cavern  was  the  dis- 
covery of  the  many  advantages  attaching 
to  the  employment  of  thick  walls  in  hot 
climates;  for  heavy  walls  and  small  out- 
lets mean  cool  internal  chambers.  Another 
deduction  from  the  tent  and  pyramid  was 
the  immense  advantage  of  sloping  the 
outer  surface  of  a  wall  from  top  to  bottom 
wherever  resistance  to  wind  pressure,  t< 
earth  disturbance,  or  to  drifting  sand  had 
to  be  faced. 

This  is  a  marked  characteristic  of  cer- 
tain classes  of  buildings  in  Egypt, 
common  attribute  of  Assryian  architec- 
ture, and  so  may  be  traced  across  the 
plains  and  plateaux  of  Asia  in  mud  and 
stone  structures,  to  the  forts,  palaces, 
and  monasteries  of  Thibet  and  Bhutan, 
standing  sure-footedly  on  the  apparently 
inaccessible  cliffsides  or  mountain  tops. 

Another  influence  is  seen  at  work  on 


Loggia,  Court  of   San  Damaso.  Vatican. 


ROOF    AND    CEILING         n 

alluvial  plains  and  the  margins  of  sandy 
wastes,  where  the  horizon  stretches  far  in 
every  direction;  in  such  places,  there  is 
a  tendency  for  most  things  to  be  reduced 
to  flatness  or  hummockyness.  Hence,  in 
Northern  Africa,  in  parts  of  India  and 
over  extensive  tracks  of  the  great  Asian 
plains  we  have  the  rounded  hill-like  dwell- 
ing, though  more  generally  the  low 
rectangular  construction,  which,  from  a 
distance  is  lost  in  the  wide  sweeping  undu- 
lations which  take  on  the  semblance  of  a 
monotonous  dead  level,  Quite  commonly 
these  squared  buildings  are  vaulted  inter- 
nally, then  we  have  a  series  of  cells  each 
covered  by  a  shallow  dome,  or  a  single 
chamber  covered  by  a  series  of  such  domes, 
as  already  mentioned.  This  arrangement 
is  certainly  suggestive  of  the  excavated 
mound  or  the  cavern,  where  the  internal 
shape  of  the  chamber  is  neither  influenced 
nor  betrayed  by  the  outward  envelope.  In 
Egypt,  however,  the  vault  was  rarely 
employed,  at  least  for  large  chambers; 
primitive  timber  and  reed  coverings  sug- 
gested the  form  of  the  later  stone  slab 
roofing  and  ceiling. 

Persisting  traces  of  the  primitive  use  of 


i2  CEILINGS 

timber  are  afforded  by  pillars  and  sham 
rafter  ends.  The  Egyptian  pillar  has 
well  defined  base  or  root,  shaft  or  stem,  and 
capital  or  foliated  head.  It  represents 
either  the  palm  tree  or  a  bundle  of  reeds, 
both  forms  being  used  and  in  some  cases  it 
is  realistically  carved  and  painted.  At  a 
later  period  the  column  appears  as  a  single 
lotus  or  papyrus  stem,  with  basal  leaves 
and  terminating  with  a  single  flower  or  a 
group  of  blooms.  Curiously  enough  the 
band  used  for  tying  the  bundle  of  reeds 
was  retained  half-way  up  the  single  lotus 
stem  column,  a  useless  relic  of  tradition. 
In  certain  Greek  temples  wooden  columns 
supporting  the  ceiling  beams  were  covered 
with  bronze,  beaten  to  represent  the  scales 
of  palm  trees,  the  metal  being  gilt.  In 
classic  architecture  we  often  see  small 
cubes  of  stone  slightly  projecting  at 
regular  intervals  between  the  top  of  the 
wall  and  the  frieze,  or  between  the  frieze 
and  metope,  which  have  no  structural 
duties  and  are  unrepresented  inside  the 
building.  These  are  merely  a  mimicry 
of  the  abandoned  wooden  rafters,  serving 
no  useful  purpose,  but  often  of  real 
decorative  value. 


ROOF    AND    CEILING         13 

Some  forms  of  the  pillar  and  certainly 
the  pilaster,  or  pillar  partially  imbedded 
in  the  wall,  are  reminiscent  of  quarry 
practice.  To  this  source,  too,  we  must  go 
back  for  a  curious  and  effective  form  of 
ceiling  decoration,  the  stalactite  ornamen- 
tation, consisting  of  closely  set  pendant 
cones,  with  corrugated  sides,  such  as  we 
find  in  a  conventionalised  form  crowning 
the  Hall  of  the  Abencerrages  in  the 
Alhambra. 

In  certain  regions  the  tent  evidently 
gave  rise  to  the  high  pitched  dome.  And 
in  other  regions  where  wood,  in  the  form 
of  substantial  timber,  was  the  prevailing 
building  material,  where  mountains  and 
trees  surrounded  man,  an  aspiring  type  of 
architecture  arose,  notable  for  its  shelving, 
water-shedding  roofs,  drooping  eaves  pro- 
tecting the  walls  and  openings,  and  its 
internal  upward  slant  designed  to  train 
smoke  from  the  smouldering  fires  to  a 
central  hole  in  the  roof.  All  of  this  was 
an  unconscious  mimicry  of  local  environ- 
ment. In  this  way  we  come  by  the  forest 
and  Alpine  type  of  cottage. 

Akin  to  the  forest,  too,  is  the  Gothic, 
which  was  developed  among  timber-using 


i4  CEILINGS 

folk  as  an  evolution  from  the  Romanesque 
or  Norman  order,  itself  a  modification  of 
the  classic  style.  As  it  gradually 
developed  and  rose  to  its  apogee  it 
betrayed  a  constant  tendency  to  revert  to 
woodland  types,  and  forms.  This  is 
shown  in  the  grouped  columns,  as,  for 
instance  we  see  them  in  the  Early  English 
style — a  number  of  circular  pillars  form- 
ing a  circle  round  a  larger  one,  or  as  the 
column  is  later  presented  to  us,  with  its 
capital  expanding,  splitting  up  like 
branches  and  merging  directly  into  the 
spreading  ribs  of  the  arches.  So  we  walk 
under  the  dimly  lit  forest  avenue.  In  the 
domestic  Gothic  we  have  wondrously  tim- 
bered roofs,  and  still  more  suggestive  is  the 
diagonal  joining,  an  ornamentation  con- 
sisting of  small  beams  (later  carried  out  in 
brick  or  tiles)  placed  obliquely,  chevron- 
wise  (V  joined  to  inverted  A)  in  panels 
formed  by  larger  beams,  running  at  right 
angles. 

As  for  the  ceiling  itself,  we  may,  for 
our  present  purpose,  take  the  term  in  its 
widest  sense,  ccelum,  the  sky,  or  covering 
of  the  chamber,  though  technically  the 
word  is  applied  more  particularly  to  the 


ROOE    AND    CEILING         15 

inner  lining  of  a  roof,  and  to  the  lining  of 
the  under  part  of  a  floor.  We  are  often 
loosely  told  that  the  type  most  apt  to  come 
to  our  mind,  the  plastered  ceiling,  is  a 
modern  thing.  Of  course  the  stucco  ceil- 
ing, both  flat  and  vaulted,  was  known  to 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  to  the 
Egyptians  before  them,  and  was,  indeed, 
as  we  have  endeavoured  to  show,  the  direct 
outcome  of  the  above  mentioned  mud  semi- 
dome,  and  the  wattle  and  daub  method  of 
construction,  in  which  matted  reeds  or 
intertwined  twigs  and  branches  were  plas- 
tered over  outside  and  inside  with  clay  in 
order  to  make  them  weather-tight. 

This  reed  and  twig  tradition  was  pre- 
served by  the  Egyptians  even  when  they 
had  substituted  stone  slabs,  for  they 
painted  their  stucco  ceilings  with  water 
plants  and  matting  designs ;  on  the  other 
hand  the  intricate  criss-cross  of  timber 
construction  has  given  us  the  effective 
coffering,  or  deep  square  and  oblong  pits 
in  carved  and  plastered  ceilings,  types 
which  we  shall  deal  with  in  subsequent 
chapters. 

In  his  '  '  Grammar  of  Ornament ' '  Jones 
lays  down  the  proposition  that :  u  Archi- 


16  CEILINGS 

tecture  is  the  material  expression  of  the 
wants,  the  faculties  and  the  sentiments  of 
the  age  in  which  it  is  created  "  to  which 
we  assent  with  the  addition  :  that  it  is  also 
subject  to  the  profoundly  modifying  and 
often  fettering  traditions  of  the  immediate 
or  forgotten  past.  He  goes  on  :  "  Style 
in  architecture  is  the  peculiar  form  that 
expression  takes  under  the  influence  of 
climate  and  materials  at  command.,,  But 
tradition  plays  at  least  as  important  a  part 
as  climate  or  materials.  No  style  is  all  of 
one  piece.  It  has  its  roots  in  the  past,  and 
its  growth  is  subject  to  quickening  breezes 
or  blighting  currents  from  many  outside 
climes.  Perhaps  the  happiest  styles, 
those  having  the  most  lasting  effect,  are 
those  which  have  been  introduced  from  a 
foreign  source,  absorbed  by  an  artistic 
people  and  bent  to  their  own  needs.  The 
Greeks,  the  Mauresques,  the  mosaic 
workers  of  India,  the  Japanese  are 
witnesses  to  this,  and  to  the  fact  that  the 
principles  underlying  architectural  and 
decorative  practice  are  survivals  of  a  past 
outlived,  but  still  gripping  us  for  good  or 
evil. 


CHAPTER   II 

CEILINGS    OF    THE    ANCIENTS 

Such  knowledge  as  we  possess  of  ancient 
Egyptian  architecture  relates  chiefly  to 
the  temples  and  palaces.  Flat  stone  slabs 
covered  these  buildings,  vaulting  appar- 
ently being  reserved  for  narrow  passages 
and  occasionally  some  inner  cell-like 
chamber.  The  interior  surfaces  of  the 
stone  structures,  walls  and  ceilings,  were 
frequently  rendered  smooth  with  a  coating 
of  plaster.  Colour  schemes  were  handled 
with  great  boldness,  both  on  the  flat  and 
on  the  low  and  high  relief  carvings.  A 
most  interesting  procedure  was  adopted. 
The  whole  surface  to  be  decorated  was 
divided  up  by  lines  drawn  at  right  angles, 
thus  presenting  the  appearance  of 
1  'squared"  paper.  With  this  assistance 
the  drawing  was  outlined  in  red  chalk. 
Another  artist  went  over  the  whole  with 
if  B 


i8  CEILINGS 

black  paint,  improving  the  drawing  as  he 
went  along.  Then  came  the  sculptor  who 
carved  out  the  design,  and  finally,  the 
painter,  who,  with  his  brushes  and  trained 
eye,  gave  life  to  the  whole.  The  corroding 
influence  of  time  which  reveals  many 
secrets,  has  betrayed  the  methods  of  these 
cunning  men  of  past  ages.  We  see  how 
the  work  was  improved  step  by  step.  Even 
the  carvers'  completed  efforts  were  subject 
to  destructive  criticism  on  the  part  of  the 
master  painter.  Limbs  of  figures,  details 
of  pictures  finished  in  alto-rilievo,  have  i 
many  instances  been  chipped  away;  new 
attitudes,  altered  combinations,  being 
produced  by  the  simple  process  of  model- 
ling a  lump  of  stucco  in  situ. 

Ceiling  decoration,  however,  was  mostly 
on  the  flat,  but  a  combination  of  methods 
was  used  when  the  favourite  scheme  of 
carving  the  ceiling  to  symbolise  the  blue 
sky  spangled  with  yellow  stars  was 
adopted.  Additional  symbolism  was  intro- 
duced when  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  were 
grouped  about  a  central  rosette,  or  placed 
as  a  border  round  the  chamber.  Among 
other  symbols  was  that  poetic  rendering  of 


m 


CEILINGS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  19 

the  sun's  daily  flight  cross  the  heavens, 
the  winged  disc.  This  reversal  of  a 
diurnal  miracle  has  arrested  the  attention 
of  all  races,  who  have  endeavoured  to  give 
pictorial  expression  to  the  phenomena  in 
many  ways.  The  Egyptians  and  Semitic 
people  gave  the  sun  wings.  In  far  Asia  it 
took  the  form  of  a  wheel,  or  more  mysti- 
cally the  cramponed  cross.  Another  form 
of  this  is  the  familiar  three  bent  naked 
legs  of  Sicily,  conjoined  by  a  central  sun 
in  splendour  or  a  plain  disc,  which  was 
brought  by  the  Norman  conquerors  of  the 
Mediterranean  isle  to  Mona  in  the  form  of 
three  conjoined  and  bent  armoured  legs. 
The  Greeks  and  Roman  picture  Phaeton 
driving  his  chariot  drawn  by  milk-white 
steeds  across  the  sky  and  setting  the 
heavens  aflame.  All  of  these  have  become 
common  property  among  many  ceiling 
decorators. 

That  other  Egyptian  sun  symbol,  the 
open-winged  vulture  (replaced  by  the  eagle 
in  the  East,  Greece,  and  Rome),  was  often 
seen  on  ceilings,  holding  in  its  paw  either 
a  key  of  life — the  andk,  or  tau  tipped  by 
a  ring ;  or  a  great  plumed  quill  suggesting 


2o  CEILINGS 

the  soul's  journey  to  the  under- world. 
Lotus  and  papyrus  buds  and  blooms  were 
used  as  central  rosettes  or  as  borders  just 
above  the  cornice,  the  colours  being  green 
and  white,  picked  out  with  red  and  yellow. 
Speaking  generally,  Egyptian  ceiling 
decorations  partook  largely  of  the  geomet- 
rical ;  intricate  combinations  of  curves  and 
straight  lines.  There  is  much  that  is 
interesting  about  these,  because  in  many 
of  them  we  can  trace  a  conventionalised 
pattern  of  reed  matting  (arrangements  oi 
yellow,  white,  red  and  green  thin  stripes) 
which  in  the  far  away  past  had  formed  ai 
important  part  of  the  builders'  materials. 
In  the  interwoven  patterns  we  find  the  wel 
and  woof  of  the  papyrus  and  lotus  stems, 
though  these  designs  were  elaborated 
represent  those  interminable  knots  belong- 
ing to  the  concealed  part  of  religion,  an< 
symbolising  those  "  Words  of  Power' 
known  only  to  the  inner  circle  of  th< 
initiate.  With  the  mat  and  knot  patterns 
are  associated  those  conventionalised  sym- 
bols of  water,  the  wavy  line,  the  chevron  or 
broken  line,  and  the  whirlpool,  or  three 
lines  starting  from  a  central  point  and 


Loggia.  Court  of  San  Damaso, 


Vatican. 


• 


CEILINGS   OF  THE  ANCIENTS  21 

circling  outwards  to  give  the  effect  of 
gyration.  Often  the  latter  symbol  was 
drawn  in  endless  series,  the  tails  of  one 
ornament  joining  others,  to  form  another 
point  of  departure,  so  that  the  whole  sur- 
face presented  a  mass  of  involuted  figures, 
conveying  an  accurate  notion  of  a  turbu- 
lent, eddying  flood. 

Colour,  as  we  have  said,  was  employed 
boldly,  the  schemes  being  based  on  the 
laws  of  contrast.  We  see  patterns  traced 
in  black  on  red  or  buff,  white  on  black  or 
buff.  But  vivid  effects  were  obtained  by 
the  daring  juxtaposition  of  blacks,  bright 
reds,  blues  and  greens,  yellow  being 
brought  in  as  a  harmonising  medium,  as 
well  as  a  means  to  throw  into  apparent 
relief  a  pattern  traced  in  other  colours. 

Of  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  we 
know  that  they  affected  rather  long, 
narrow  rooms,  with  vaulted  ceilings, 
though  the  dome  was  also  employed  and 
the  cupola  not  infrequent.  The  walls  were 
immensely  thick,  built  of  comparatively 
small  sun-baked  or  kilned  bricks.  These 
walls  were  often  thicker  at  the  base  than 
at  the  top,  having  an  outward  slope.    The 


22  CEILINGS 

roofs    were    generally    rectangular,    con- 
cealing internal  vaultings. 

A  form  of  stucco  covered  both  walls  and 
ceilings,  which  were  decorated  with  vivid 
colouring.  Their  flora  was  of  the  radia- 
ting description,  branches  reaching  out 
from  a  central  stem,  like  an  espalier 
fruit  tree;  they  represented  the  pome- 
granate thus.  We  also  owe  to  them  the 
palmated  fan-shaped  ornament  consisting 
of  central  leaves  or  club  leaf  with  similar 
leaves  spreading  out  right  and  left.  It  was 
a  favourite  with  the  Greeks.  The  Assy- 
rians also  used  pine  cones  freely  as  a 
motive  in  decoration,  these  being  con- 
nected with  tree  worship. 

A  peculiarity  of  the  structural  design 
was  that,  although  the  doors  were  tall  and 
wide,  windows  were  unknown.  It  would 
appear  that  light  and  air  were  admitted 
high  up  in  the  lofty  ceiling  by  means  of 
cylindrical  brick  tubes,  placed  in  the  thick- 
ness of  the  building  at  such  an  angle  as  to 
exclude  all  direct  sunrays,  while  allowing 
shafts  of  light  to  penetrate  into  the  in- 
teriors. It  is  a  device  utilised  in  a  modified 
form  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 


CEILINGS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  23 

It  is  noteworthy  tliat  colour,  even  vivid 
contrasts  of  primary  colours,  has  always 
been  not  merely  a  decorative,  but  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  best  periods  of  architecture 
in  sun-bathed  latitudes,  the  idea  that  white, 
or  monochrome,  would  be  more  grateful  to 
the  eye  and  give  an  appearance  of  coolness 
not    entering    into    the    philosophy    of 
builders  or  the  mass  of  the  people.     The 
truth  is,  of  course,  that  the  builder's  first 
anxiety  under  such  conditions  has  ever 
been  to  keep  out  the  sunrays  and  tone 
down  all  glare.     This  end  was  attained  by 
adopting  such  means  as  were  resorted  to  by 
the  Assyrians ;  by  placing  small  windows 
deep  set  in  thick  walls  high  up  in  rooms, 
screened  by  such  devices  as  the  Mauresque 
mushrabayah     traceried     woodwork;     by 
having  great  blank  walls,  as  in  the  charac- 
teristic   Spanish    cathedrals,    with    their 
sombre  mysterious  feeling,  the  richness  of 
carving,     colouring    and    gilding    being 
visible    in    glimpses,    illumined    by    thin 
shafts  of  light  from  the  rare  deep-coloured 
windows ;  or  by  the  methods  used  by  the 
Greeks     in    the     construction     of    their 
temples.     With  these  precautions  it  was 


24  CEILINGS 

both  possible  and  desirable  to  give  free 
scope  to  the  healthy  love  for  brightness 
and  natural  mingling  of  colours  by  adorn- 
ing walls  and  ceilings  with  the  purest 
pigments,  because  such  a  system  assisted 
in  producing  fine  illuminating  effects 
with  the  feeblest  admission  of  light  from 
outside.  We  find  this  state  of  affairs 
prevailing  all  over  Southern  Europe, 
in  Asia  and  countries  overrun  by  the 
Arabs. 

In  prehistoric  times  the  dwellings  of  the 
Greeks  were  circular,  having  a  framework 
of  wood  or  stone  filled  in  with  rushes 
daubed  over  with  mud.  Probably  the 
roofs  were  of  the  pointed  and  flat-domed 
types. 

Coining  down  to  historic  times  we  find 
that  the  roofs  of  their  temples  were  mostly 
flat,  or  nearly  so.  In  the  most  simple 
form,  the  single  cell  temple,  the  oldest 
example  of  which  we  have  records  being 
that  on  Mount-Ocha  in  the  Island  of 
Eubcea,  the  roof  consisted  of  large  thin 
slabs  of  stone,  each  slab  projecting  beyond 
the  course  below,  till  they  met  at  the  ridge. 
Light  and  air  were  admitted  through  a  long 


CEILINGS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  25 

narrow  slit  in  the  roof,  the  hypaethral 
opening.  In  later  periods  the  roofs  were 
sometimes  formed  by  timber  rafters  sup- 
porting baked  clay  tiles,  the  ceilings 
consisting  of  boards  either  painted  or 
covered  with  stucco  or  encaustic  tiles. 
But  slabs  of  stone  and  marble  continued  as 
the  favourite  materials,  being  most  care- 
fully dressed  so  as  to  form  perfectly 
weather-tight  joints.  Simpson  says  the 
ceilings  of  the  exterior  ambulatories  were 
of  marble.  This  was  usually  so  as  regards 
the  peristyle,  and  certainly  in  some  in- 
stances as  regards  the  pronaos  and  the 
posticum.  The  great  slabs  of  stone  or 
marble  were  placed  under  the  roof,  and 
were  decorated  with  deeply  sunk  coffers, 
called  lacunari  from  lacus,  a  lake.  They 
were  cut  in  the  solid,  and  though  of  great 
decorative  value  undoubtedly  represented 
those  pit-like  spaces  naturally  formed 
when  a  network  of  roof  timbers  were  left 
bare.  These  lacunaria  were  enriched  with 
delicate  mouldings  on  their  edges,  and 
painted  designs  filled  the  centres.  As 
regards  the  inner  parts  of  the  temple,  two 
methods  seem  to  have  prevailed.     Some- 


26  CEILINGS 

times  the  under  side  of  the  roof  was  ex- 
posed, both  the  supporting  woodwork  and 
stone  slabs  being  painted  and  gilt,  often 
with    elaborate    designs.      Many    marble 
tiles  have  been  discovered  with  their  under 
sides  painted  with  ornaments.    At  Tyrius 
fragments  of  alabaster  frieze  not  only  bore 
delicately  carved  designs  of  rosettes  and 
spirals,  but  were  studded  with  bits  of  blue 
glass  or  paste,  giving  a  charming  jewelled 
effect.   Other  pieces  of  this  kind  have  been 
found   at  Mycenae   and   elsewhere.     Flat 
ceilings  of  wood  and  of  stone  tiles  wen 
also  used,  all  visible  parts  were  painted 
and  gilt.     Vitruvius  speaks  of  roof  panels 
painted  blue  by  the  wax  encaustic  process. 
Red  and  blue  were  the  prevailing  colours, 
with  gold  employed  to  mark  out  designs 
and  to  harmonise  the  whole.    But  black  on 
red  or  buff,  as  well  as  red  and  black  on 
white,     also     came     within     the     colour 
schemes,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  glass  was 
introduced  to  heighten  effects.     The  de- 
signs included  rosettes,   floreated   scrolls 
developed  in  moderate  lines,  and  wonder- 
fully intricate  traceries  of  narrow  bands. 
The  innate  love  of  the  Greeks  for  the 


CEILINGS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  27 

beautiful  is  revealed  in  the  graceful  treat- 
ment of  these  lines. 

What  an  astonishing  variety  of  forms 
the  fret  as  developed  by  them  bestows  on 
us.      No    wonder    that    they    have    been 
accorded    the    freedom    of    the    universal 
treasure-house    of    decoration.     Consider 
the   fret   in   its   simplest   form,    with   its 
continuous   horizontal   and   vertical   lines 
shaping  into  crenelations,  or  with  these 
lines   inclining   inwards   producing  those 
wedge-like    figures    forming    the    broken 
batoon ;  or,  again,  that  other  modification, 
where  the  right  vertical  line  is  bent  in- 
wards, so  that  we  have  the  tooth  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  letter  E,  this  insignifi- 
cant change  giving  us  the  dignity  of  the 
Greek  key  pattern.     How  well  those  can 
be  blended,   superimposed  one  upon  an- 
other, until  we  obtain  the  endless  varia- 
tions of  the  meander.     Germane  to  these, 
yet  how  different  is  the  guilloche,   with 
three  loosely  plaited  withies,  so  effective 
when  placed  between  the  two  pairs  of  hori- 
zontal lines,  each  pair  enclosing  its  rows 
of  pellets,  olives  or  billets.      Thoroughly 
characteristic  of  Greek  methods  was  the 


V^A^ 


jHSHfar 


&&^ 


/e^a^ 


LINE  ORNAMENTS 


CEILINGS   OF  THE  ANCIENTS  29 

treatment  of  those  universal  graphs  of 
water,  the  wave  and  undulated  lines  and 
the  chevron.  With  them  the  usual  joined 
sloping  S's  were  given  an  elaborately 
voluted  form,  and  often  foam  was  repre- 
sented by  a  backward  sweep  from  the  crest, 
which  developed  into  a  dentated  leaf  with 
voluted  tip.  The  undulated  lines  with  its 
continuous  series  of  flat  domes  and  depres- 
sions of  equal  depth  underwent  many 
variations,  while  the  chevron  was  usually 
doubled  and  given  a  sculptural  finish, 
blending  well  with  its  architectural  sur- 
roundings, as  its  esoteric  meaning  became 
obscured.  All  these  were  utilised  as  beau- 
tiful frames,  delighting  the  eye  on  ceilings 
and  walls,  full  advantage  being  taken  of 
their  flexibility  and  fluid  nature. 
Thus  by  their  help  and  the  judicious 
combination  and  well  thought  out  modifi- 
cations of  horizontal  and  vertical  propor- 
tions, the  length,  breadth  or  height  of  a 
room  could  be  accentuated  or  visually 
rectified.  With  these  wavy  and  broken 
lines  the  artist  may  train  the  sight, 
occupying  and  pleasing  the  eye  without 
fatiguing  it. 


3o  CEILINGS 

In  the  domus,  fceilings  were  commonly 
of  the  semi-circular  vault  or  "  barrel' ' 
type.  The  extrados,  or  hollow  space 
above,  was  filled  in  with  concrete  to  form 
the  roof  or  a  floor  above.  This  appears  to 
be  the  old,  persisting  form,  but  there  was 
a  special  reason  for  the  roof  being  flat  and 
protected  by  a  parapet,  because  it  was 
used  as  a  solarium,  where  the  enervated 
citizen  exposed  his  skin  to  the  revivifying 
sunrays. 

Flat  ceilings,  however,  were  seen  in 
ordinary  houses,  and  at  all  events  in  the 
more  public  rooms.  Considerable  luxury 
was  displayed  in  decorating  surfaces, 
coffers  and  panels  forming  part  of  the 
scheme  of  design,  in  the  carrying  out  of 
which  not  only  painting,  but  ivory,  ebony, 
precious  marbles  and  even  gilt  bronze 
plates  were  used.  Plato  refers  to  painted 
ceilings,  though  the  general  spread  of 
such  lavishness  came  after  his  days. 

Even  amidst  the  triumphs  and  luxuries 
of  the  Empire,  Rome  kept  alive  memories 
of  her  primitive  simplicity  and  humble 
origin,  for  on  the  Palatine  Hill  were  kept 
standing  the  casa  Romuli,   small  straw- 


ii 


>  *  t 


g 

o 

_] 

£- 

O 

o 


CEILINGS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  31 

thafched  wattle  and  daub  huts.  Although 
in  private  houses  flat  ceilings  of  wood, 
stone  or  brick,  generally  covered  with 
stucco,  were  common  enough,  the  semi- 
circular vault  preserved  old  traditions.  In 
many  of  the  larger  chambers,  where  the 
greater  part  of  the  surface  was  flat,  the 
sides  were  concave,  producing  the  coved 
ceiling. 

As  regards  their  temples,  the  architec- 
ture was  derived  from  the  Etruscans,  the 
earlier  examples  being  of  wood,  with  steep 
roofs,  ornamented  with  painted  terra-cotta, 
while  cornices  and  ceilings  soon  became 
loaded  with  sculpture.  Later,  both  in 
temples  and  public  buildings  generally, 
the  dome,  either  circular  or  octagonal,  be- 
came the  prevailing  feature,  while  long 
and  square  chambers  were  more  or  less 
deeply  vaulted.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
cupola,  that  inner  lining  forming  the 
ceiling,  often  differed  both  in  size  and 
character  from  the  outer  covering  or  dome 
proper.  This  is,  of  course,  the  principle 
of  what  we  now  strictly  call  ceiling.  In 
Rome  the  principle  was  also  applied  to 
painted  walls.    We  have  seen  that  the  first 


32  CEILINGS 

temples  were  built  of  wood,  and  a  reminis- 
cence of  this  remained  with  the  Roman 
builders  to  the  end.  A  large  percentage  of 
ceilings,  whether  of  wood,  brick  or  stone, 
bare  or  stuccoed,  flat  or  vaulted,  were 
divided  up  into  rows  of  deeply  sunk 
panels,  the  lacunaria  or  coffered  type, 
which  had  also  been  developed  in  Greece 
from  the  same  starting  point.  These 
lakelets  were  richly  decorated,  both  on  the 
bevelled  sides  and  the  centres.  Quite  at 
an  early  period  the  mud  lining  was 
replaced  by  a  splendid  plaster  in  which 
powdered  marble  was  the  principal  base. 
This  stucco  dried  with  a  brilliantly 
polished  white  surface,  and  became  as  hard 
and  durable  as  stone.  Fine  specimens  of 
it  have  come  down  to  our  days.  Three 
methods  of  painting  were  adopted.  The 
water-colour  frescoes  gave  a  beautifully 
soft  effect,  but  inasmuch  as  brilliance  and 
depth  had  to  be  secured  by  repeated  appli- 
cations of  washes  as  the  colour  sank  in  the 
damp  plaster,  the  speedier  and  more  sure 
way  of  obtaining  richness  associated  with 
tempera,  where  the  glue  used  as  a 
medium  enabled  gradations  of  tints  to  be 


ROMAN   GEOMETRIC  AND   MOSAIC  WORK 

C 


34  CEILINGS 

secured  without  opaqueness,  came  into 
general  use.  Even  sharper  and  richer 
results  were  obtained  with  the  encaustic 
method  of  mixing  the  dry  pigments  in 
melted  wax,  and  applying  them  hot  to  the 
half -set  plaster.  In  any  case  a  con- 
siderable depth  of  the  stucco  was  per- 
manently stained,  while  the  very  nature  of 
the  material  provided  a  light-reflecting 
surface,  giving  brilliancy  and  trans- 
parency to  the  finished  pictures.  But 
Roman  artists  were  not  content  with 
dipping  their  brushes  in  gorgeous  pig- 
ments or  applying  resplendent  gold.  They 
enriched  their  ceilings  with  decorated  tiles 
and  slabs  of  variegated  marbles.  Wooden 
ceilings  were  inlaid  with  ivory  and  ebony 
both  for  the  sake  of  display  and  the  effec- 
tive contrast  of  the  satin-surfaced  white 
and  black  materials.  Horace,  as  evidence 
of  his  modesty,  declared  that  his  house 
had  no  walls  adorned  with  ivory;  on  the 
other  hand,  Pliny  writes  of  ceilings  deco- 
rated with  bronze  plates.  Varro  recom- 
mends the  painting  of  ceilings  in  imitation 
of  the  sky,  with  a  movable  centre  star  of 
metal,  its  index  rays  passing  over  a  radius 


CEILINGS  OF  THE  ANCIENTS  35 

to  indicate  the  direction  of  the  wind  and 
the  passing  hours.  No  doubt  the  winds 
could  easily  be  indicated  by  the  star  being 
controlled  by  an  outside  vane,  but  in  order 
to  mark  the  passing  of  time  from  sunrise 
to  sunset  we  must  suppose  a  hypaethral 
opening,  by  which  a  thin  shaft  of  light 
could  travel  over  the  radius. 

Central  decorations  were  among  the 
€arly  canons  of  the  decorator* s  art,  very 
commonly  taking  the  form  of  a  rose  or  of 
an  elaborate  palmated  boss,  such  as  still 
oppress  us,  and  evidently  a  survival  of  the 
days  when  a  bunch  of  straw  marked  the 
highest  point  of  conically  thatched  cot- 
tages, or  the  ornamental  fringe  surround- 
ing a  tent  pole.  As  regards  Varro's 
reference  to  mechanical  devices,  we  find 
the  Abb6  Montfaucon  stating  that  : 
' '  The  ceilings  of  ancient  palatial  buildings 
were  covered  with  ivory  plates,  which 
moved  and  turned  round  in  such  a  manner 
that  at  intervals  they  could  make  the 
ceilings  rain  flowers  and  perfumes,' '  a 
contrivance  highly  suggestive  of  some 
exotic  custom  brought  back  by  Imperial 
generals  from  their  eastern  conquests,  or 


36  CEILINGS 

perhaps  introduced  by  way  of  Greece  from 
those  undated  eruptions  of  Asiatic  in- 
fluences, symbolised  in  poetry  and  art  by 
the  triumphal  progress  and  campaigning 
of  Bacchus  in  far-off  lands.  Mosaics, 
composed  of  cubes  and  other  regular 
figures  or  irregular  fragments  of  marbles, 
were  largely  used  for  decorating  the  ceil- 
ings and  vaults  of  houses,  temples  and 
baths,  but  the  use  of  small  encaustic  tiles 
and  glass  for  this  kind  of  work  did  not  find 
favour  in  Roman  practice  until  the 
Byzantine  Greeks  brought  them  in  the 
sixth  century. 

Pliny  in  his  description  of  the  Golden 
House  of  Nero  is  responsible  for  the  state- 
ment that  the  Emperor  built  it  of  a  clear 
stone,  found  in  Cappadocia,  which  was  so 
transparent  that  in  the  daytime  those  who 
were  within  saw  the  light  when  the  doors 
were  closed,  though  there  was  no  passage 
left  for  the  light,  and,  therefore,  the  stone, 
from  its  brightness,  was  called  phengites, 
from  phengos,  brightness.  Montfaucon 
supports  Pliny  in  this,  saying:  "  At 
Florence  in  the  Church  of  St  Minias, 
there  are  windows  with  alabaster  tablets  in 


CEILINGS   OF  THE   ANCIENTS  37 

them  instead  of  glass,  each  of  them  cover- 
ing one  window  though  they  are  about 
15  feet  high,  and  yet  the  church  is  light." 
The  notion  that  the  ancients  used  trans- 
parent stones  for  roofing  their  temples  has 
been  seriously  advanced  as  one  way  out  of 
the  difficulty  of  explaining  how  the 
windowless  interiors  were  lighted.  Pro- 
bably the  truth  is  that  the  hypaethral 
openings  were  so  cunningly  contrived,  that 
the  thin  shafts  of  light  striking  on  the 
glistening,  semi-transparent  stone,  or 
g lass-like  stucco,  produced  an  effulgence 
inducing  the  illusion  that  the  light  actually 
shone  through  the  roofing  material.  The 
theory  that  the  transparency  of  thin  sheets 
of  marble  or  alabaster  was  utilised  for 
transmission  of  light,  however,  is  abso- 
lutely contradicted  by  what  we  know  of  the 
methods  adopted  in  decorating  interiors  of 
all  kinds. 

All  art  is  the  result  of  many  influences ; 
Roman  art  was  peculiarly  the  product  of 
outside  forces  acting  on  robust  natures. 
The  Etruscan  wave  received  fresh  volume 
from  the  East,  ultimately  to  be  smoothed 
down,     by    the     great,     calm     flood     of 


38 


CEILINGS 


Grecian  sense  of  beauty.  But  the  Roman 
made  whatever  he  borrowed  his  own. 
He  was  Imperial,  self  assertive,  aimant  un 
peu  le  tapage,  and  not  a  little  vulgar. 
Decoration,  which  with  the  Etruscans  and 
Greeks  was  kept  within  bounds,  in  Latium 
became  a  positive  obsession.  Blank 
spaces  were  held  in  horror,  and  were  plas- 
tered over  with  a  luxuriance  that  often 
became  a  riof .  It  has  been  said  that  under 
the  Empire  the  M  ceiling  appeared  like  an 
Italian  garden  suspended  overhead,  ros< 
and  flowers  combined  with  masks,  shells, 
cornucopias,  eagles,  grotesques  and 
scrolls.  ' *  As  a  matter  of  fact,  not  only  was 
the  whole  universe  called  in  to  minister  to 
the  Roman's  love  of  display,  not  only  did 
he  ransack  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and 
all  thaf  is  therein,  he  plumbed  the  most 
secret  recesses  of  the  imagination  afire 
with  a  vastly  enveloping,  cosmopolitan 
cosmogony  in  order  to  enrich  his  treasury 
of  decorative  motives.  His  fertile  fancy 
produced  wonderful  results,  often  over- 
whelming in  the  mass,  though  very  near 
the  sublime  in  many  details.  If  in  the 
ruins  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  the 


CEILINGS   OF  THE  ANCIENTS  39 

records  of  those  wonders  which  adorned 
the  Domus  Aurea,  and  the  baths  of 
Diocletian,  we  find  floral  scrolls  blossom- 
ing ont  into  human  heads,  twisting  about 
weirdly  until  they  merge  into  birds  and 
beasts  ;  if  brutish  and  vegetal  men  hob-nob 
with  humanised  animals,  all  endowed  with 
an  impishness  that  places  them  in  a 
different  category  to  the  calmly  unreal 
symbolism  of  Egypt,  we  are  also  con- 
fronted with  the  very  real  beauties  of  the 
geometrical  work  and  its  accompaniment 
of  rope  and  ribbon  tracery,  and  the 
restrained  translation  of  flowers  and  leaves 
into  purely  decorative  forms. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE    BYZANTINE    AND    THE    MAUEESQUE 


re- 
Li 

nd 


It  is  curious  to  see  how  Byzantine  art 
arose.  Naturally  enough  Byzantium,  a 
colony  on  the  confines  of  Europe  and  Asia, 
and  the  very  gateway  of  a  great  East  and 
West  route,  successively  in  the  hands 
of  the  Megarians,  Medes,  Athenians, 
Spartans,  Macedonians,  and  Romans,  pre 
senting  a  hot-bed  for  a  composite  art.  B 
when  Constantine  rebuilt  sacked  an 
devastated  Byzantium,  dedicating  a  new 
city  on  a  Christian  basis,  it  was  essentially 
Latin  in  architecture  and  art.  Even  when 
Theodosius  divided  the  Empire  in 
a.d.  395,  and  made  Byantium  the  seat  of 
the  Eastern  half,  public  and  domestic 
buildings  were  of  the  Roman  type.  How- 
ever, the  profound  disturbance  caused  by 
the  acceptance  of  Christianity,  the  con- 
stant influx  of  Asiatics,  gradually  had  its 
influence.  And  so  we  see,  chiefly  by 
40 


',  *  »    • 


Plan  and  elevation.  Hall  of  the  Two  Sisters,  Alhambra. 


THE    BYZANTINE  41 

means  of  ancient  illuminated  manuscripts, 
how  the  composite  gradually  crystalised. 

Byzantine  architecture  combined  ele- 
ments of  the  Greek,  Roman  and  Asiatic 
are,  united,  we  may  justly  say  trans- 
mogrified by  Christian  sentiment.  The 
result  was  a  strongly  virile  style,  possess- 
ing striking  beauties  and  capable  of 
influencing  widely  different  races,  mould- 
ing much  of  the  structural  work  and  more 
of  the  decoration  of  medieval  Europe,  and 
in  turn  producing  that  prolific  source  of 
fine  performance  and  fertile  inspiration, 
the  Arabesque  or  Mauresque.  It  was  a 
style  of  smooth,  rounded  surfaces.  Of 
classic  achievement  the  Roman  rounded 
arch  was  retained,  but  the  entablature  dis- 
carded ;  circular  rather  than  flat  cupolas 
became  prominent  features.  We  feel  that 
we  are  witnessing  the  Eastern  mind 
working  its  will  on  Latin  thought. 

This  applies  equally  to  details,  notably 
so  as  to  decoration.  With  flat  timbered 
roofs  and  stuccoed  coved  or  barrel  vaults 
replaced  by  rounded  vaults,  pendentives 
reaching  low  down,  a  broad  intrados  mark- 
ing   each    arch,    flat    ceilings    and    other 


42  CEILINGS 

smooth  spaces  presenting  themslves  to  the 
eye,  and  little  or  no  carving,  there  yet 
existed  a  lively  desire  for  ornament  and  a 
keen  appreciation  of  its  fitting  application. 
A  gorgeous  ritual  and  a  riotous  display 
of  brilliant  colours  in  nature  fostered  a  love 
for  polychromatic  decoration,  both  paint- 
ing and  incrustation  of  the  flat  and 
rounded  surfaces  with  marbles  and  vitri- 
fied substances  being  used.  Of  the  pomp 
and  splendour  of  mosaic  art  we  speak  else 
where.  But  we  may  remark  that  th 
fullest  use  was  made  of  the  brilliance  bot 
in  tints  and  in  scintillating  effects  o: 
polished  marbles  and  lustrous  glass. 
These  embellishments  were  applied  to  the 
surface  as  an  enrichment  both  inside  an 
out  of  an  otherwise  plain  structure.  Some 
times  the  decorations  appear  in  a  mas 
covering  extensive  vaulted  ceilings,  in 
other  cases  we  find  the  use  of  mere  bands 
or  panels  :  a  series  of  ovals  in  the  cupola, 
a  shimmering  glory  of  floral  tracery  or 
geometrical  patterns  on  the  broad  under 
surfaces  of  arches,  or  thin  bands  emphasise 
their  outlines,  or  are  carried  from  end 
end  of  an  edifice,  while  long  or  squar 


! 

5. 

ie 

1 


THE    BYZANTINE  43 

panels  are  placed  over  windows  and  door- 
ways. Even  columns  bear  polychrome 
bands,  placed  vertically  or  rising  in  grace- 
ful spirals.  It  is  the  art  of  inlaying 
carried  out  with  a  studied  regard  to  effect, 
combined  was  this  judicious  admission  of 
light  through  small  apertures  placed  high 
up,  the  slanting  beams  gradually  revealing 
half-concealed  beauties,  which  gives  a  gor- 
geousness  and  mystery  quite  indescribable. 
The  designs,  floral  and  geometrical,  are 
carried  out  in  bright  primary  and  secon- 
dary colours,  with  an  unsparing  use  of 
gold.  Floral  forms  are  built  up  of  little 
cubes,  but  are  often  given  a  flowing,  in- 
volved outline.  Indeed,  the  Byzantines 
retained  a  great  liking  for  the  Greek  flow- 
ing lines,  though  their  flat  scroll  and 
ribbon  work  reminds  us  more  of  the  Egyp- 
tian and  Celtic  traceries,  but  flattened  out 
as  we  afterwards  see  it  in  the  plaster  strap- 
work  of  the  Tudor  period. 

The  religious  feeling  was  against  the 
employment  of  the  human  figure  for 
purely  decorative  accessories,  and  even 
birds  and  beasts  and  fishes  are  rarely  in- 
troduced  except   as   prominent   symbols. 


44  CEILINGS 

On  the  other  hand,  pictures  were  an 
integral  part  of  the  decorative  scheme,  and 
are  seen  as  great  panels  and  small 
medallions. 

The  drawing  both  of  figures  and  floral 
ornaments  is  usually  exceedingly  crude  if 
close  scrutiny  is  attempted,  but  most  effec- 
tive when  viewed  from  a  distance,  as  the 
artists  intended  they  should  be.  It  is  sur- 
face treatment,  with  little  attempt  at  pers- 
pective, and  none  of  foreshortening,  yet 
the  vividly  coloured  figures,  though  so  flat 
and  angular,  seem  to  stand  out  with 
startling  realism  from  a  shimmering 
background  of  broken-up  gold.  We  must 
not,  however,  fall  into  the  error  of  think- 
ing that  Byzantine  art  ceased  to  exist  as  a 
living  force  in  1204,  the  very  definite  date 
given  by  makers  of  reference  books.  It 
exerted  its  influence  long  after  that  in 
Central  Europe,  is  to-day  a  very  real 
source  of  power  and  beauty  wherever  the 
Greek  Church  has  sway,  witness  the 
Balkan  States  and  Holy  Russia.  The  old 
MSS.  already  mentioned  show  that  the 
style  of  domestic  ornamentation  differed 
not  at  all  from  that  in  the  churches.    And 


THE    BYZANTINE  45 

so  it  is  to-day.  The  Imperial  apartments 
in  the  Kremlin  at  Moscow,  with  its  low 
vaulted  ceilings  and  deep  spandrels,  are 
decorated  with  pictures  of  Emperors  hav- 
ing all  the  devotional  feeling,  the  proces- 
sional grouping  of  saints  in  the  churches. 
Some  of  the  churches  are  as  thickly  en- 
crusted with  scrolls  and  miniatures  as  the 
best  work  in  Italian  sacred  buildings,  and 
the  flowing  floral  painting  covering  the 
whole  surface,  though  more  open  in  design, 
differs  little  from  that  to  be  seen  in 
cathedrals. 

Mauresque  or  Saracenic  decorative  art  is 
of  importance  as  imposing  itself  on  the 
Mohammedan  world,  with  a  by  no  means 
slight  reflex  action  on  both  European  and 
Eastern  practice.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  Byzantine,  being  a  sur- 
face-style built  up  of  fragments,  prisms 
replacing  the  small  cubes  of  the  artists  in 
mosaic.  It  is  founded  on  three  elements  : 
geometry,  flora  and  script.  At  its  purest 
even  floral  forms  are  subject  to  the  influ- 
ence of  religious  feeling  and  are  conven- 
tionalised almost  out  of  recognition,  in 
obedience  to  the  law  that  created  things 


46  CEILINGS 

should  not  be  represented.  Exceptions  to 
this  rule  are  found,  usually  as  the  result  of 
local  influence,  for  instance,  the  universal 
Mohammedan  star  and  crescent  moon, 
which  the  Turks  took  from  the  Byzantines, 
who  had  derived  them  from  the  Magi  of 
Babylonia  and  Persia;  the  eagles  and 
hawks  of  certain  Arab  tribes;  and  the 
interlaced  serpents  seen  on  the  archi-vaults 
of  the  fortress  palace  at  Aleppo,  all  sug- 
gestive of  sun  worship;  the  peacock  of 
Persia;  the  open  hand  with  key  in  palm 
and  the  lions  of  the  Spanish  Moors. 

The  Alhambra,  besides  giving  us 
examples  of  the  open  hand  and  lions,  also 
furnishes  us  with  two  very  remarkable 
pictorial  ceilings  in  the  Hall  of  Justice. 
There  are  three  large  panels  representing 
three  crowded  groups  of  people  and 
animals.  In  the  first  we  see  the  learned 
men  sitting  in  a  Court  of  Justice;  the 
second  gives  us  a  hunting  scene  in  two  sec- 
tions, one  showing  Moors  and  the  other 
Christians;  the  third,  battle  scenes,  in 
which  both  Moors  and  Christians  are  de- 
picted, the  former  being,  in  the  main, 
victors.     These  pictures  were  first  drawn 


THE    BYZANTINE  47 

in  outline  with  bright  colours,  then  filled 
in  with  vivid  flat  tints,  without  shadows, 
and  are  painted  on  skins  of  animals, 
covered  with  a  fine  coat  of  gypsum.  The 
backgrounds  are  golden,  and  the 
ornaments  round  the  paintings,  stars, 
scrolls,  and  so  on,  are  in  relief  and  gilt. 
These  are,  however,  exceptions ;  and  it  is 
the  prohibitory  sentiment  which  de- 
prived the  designs  of  all  aid  from 
pictorial  effects  and  drove  them  back 
on  geometry,  a  science  that  had  been 
studied  of  old  by  the  religious  soothsayer 
and  the  builder.  Speaking  broadly, 
Mauresque  decorative  art  is  an  art  of  the 
surface.  The  architectural  forms  are 
mainly  flat  and  rounded,  though  we  have 
vaulting  and  the  peculiar  pointed,  incurved 
arch,  a  combination  of  the  horseshoe  and 
the  ogee,  and,  again,  the  multifoil  arch, 
composed  of  a  series  of  half -moons. 

Three  methods  of  applying  decoration 
are  adopted,  painting  on  the  flat,  incrust- 
ing  design  in  mosaic,  and  building  up 
design  on  the  flat  surfaces  with  cubes,  so 
that  they  project.  In  painting  on  the  flat 
and  mosaic  (the  two  are  often  combined) 


48  CEILINGS 

geometrical  forms  :  triangles,  rectangles, 
ovals  and  their  component  parts  are  used, 
together  with  involved  line  tracery,  some 
few  simple  floral  motives  and  script.  Very 
effective  results  are  obtained  with  long 
bands  of  Arabic  script,  or  elaborate  mono- 
grams and  short  sentences  placed  in 
panels.  With  purely  African  designs 
single  blossoms,  star  shapes  and  the  single 
rose  type  are  seen,  but  going  eastward  as 
Asiatic  influence  predominates,  foliage, 
though  conventionalised  is  more  elaborate, 
and  is  seen  to  flow  from  a  single  stem. 
However  complicated  the  design,  the  twin- 
ing tendrils  can  be  traced  back  to  the  stem. 
This  is  characteristic  of  the  tree  symbols  of 
Assyria  and  the  Semitic  people,  the  many 
branched  tree  of  life,  seen  in  the  quaint 
palmated  forms  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia, 
the  seven-branched  candlestick  of  the  Jews, 
the  genealogical  tree  of  Jesse  and  the  vine 
of  Christianity.  Much  of  the  mosaic  work 
is  very  beautiful,  as  we  shall  see  later  on. 

Most  striking  and  original,  however,  is 
the  built-up  method,  whereby  great  charm 
and  endless  variety  are  obtained  by  very 
simple  means,  although  the  round  and  ov 


i 


oval 


THE    BYZANTINE  49 

forms  and  flowing  tracery  have  necessarily 
to  be  discarded.  Prisms  of  plaster  are  to 
the  Mauresque  decorator  what  wood  is  to 
the  carver,  stone  to  the  sculptor,  and 
plaster  to  the  modeller,  a  medium  for  giv- 
ing expression  to  thought.  These  prisms 
are  square  or  long  rectangular  cubes,  right 
angles  and  isosceles  triangles,  the  latter 
also  being  doubled.  It  will  be  readily 
understood  that  by  using  these  as  a  child 
uses  a  box  of  bricks,  with  an  addition  of  an 
adhesive  substance,  an  endless  diversity 
of  designs  can  be  obtained,  for  one  piece 
may  be  combined  with  any  other  piece  by 
any  one  of  its  sides.  As  Owen  Jones  says, 
the  system  enables  combinations  to  be 
made  "  as  various  as  the  melodies  which 
may  be  produced  from  the  seven  notes  of 
the  musical  scale.  With  these  stalactite 
plaster  bricks  they  formed  cornices,  arches, 
domes  and  pendants  with  the  greatest 
facility. "  Another  available  resource  is 
the  niche,  chiefly  of  service  in  building  up 
domes  and  vaulted  ceilings,  where  we  see  a 
succession  of  deep  depressions,  like  the 
sections  of  a  series  of  hollow  rounded 
cones.     It  is  said  that  this  built-up  method 

D 


5o  CEILINGS 

originated  in  the  Byzantine  mosaics,  the 
cubes  of  which  gave  the  first  idea  of 
strongly  projecting  incrustations.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  it  is  curious  to  find  the  rough 
stalactite  used  by  Mauresque  decorators, 
while  many  of  the  predominating  forms 
are  strangely  suggestive  of  local  models; 
for  instance,  the  palm  tree  with  its  geome- 
trical scars  left  by  fallen  leaves  and  its 
built-up  bunch  of  dates,  and  its  crown  of 
drooping  fronds,  forming  a  natural 
canopy;  the  vine  also  with  built-up  in- 
verted pyramid  of  grapes,  just  as  the  vivid 
dabs  of  red  and  yellow  in  a  mass  of  blue  or 
green  suggest  those  gorgeous  waxen 
blooms  of  the  oleander,  the  cacti  and  fleshy 
leaved  creepers  peculiar  to  the  sun- 
scorched  plains  and  unhospitable  rocky 
regions. 

It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  the  strong 
pure  colours  (tertiaries  are  but  sparingly 
mingled  in  the  artist's  palette)  are  em- 
ployed on  a  principle  conformable  to 
nature's  own  teaching.  We  have  the 
primaries  above,  the  secondaries  below, 
and  so  we  gain  an  impression  of  fairy 
airiness,  although  we  are  dealing  with  an 


THE    BYZANTINE  5* 

agglomeration  of  angular  solids.  A 
Mauresque  interior,  therefore,  even  when 
the  sunrays  are  largely  excluded,  remains 
light,  and  its  beauties  are  revealed  by 
flashes  from  a  thousand  reduplicated  facets 
pleasingly  outlined,  brilliantly  hued.  The 
completed  whole  differs  vastly  in  feeling 
and  effect  from  the  sombreness  of  the 
Romanesque  as  we  see  it  in  the  gemmed 
but  dark  Spanish  churches,  from  the 
solemnity  of  the  Gothic  in  its  sublime 
aspirations,  the  mystery  of  the  Byzantine 
with  its  solidity  and  half-concealed  enrich- 
ments. 

No  les£  an  authority  than  Violet  le  Due, 
speaking  of  the  geometrical  foundation  of 
Arabic  decorative  art,  says  that  while  it  is 
self-contained  and  complete,  it  is  devoid  of 
natural  symbolism  or  expression  of  an 
ideal;  the  inspiration  is  abstract  and  the 
execution  devoid  of  plasticity.  Surely  an 
astounding  judgment  when  we  remember 
the  glories  of  the  Alhambra,  of  certain 
splendid  buildings  on  the  northern  littoral 
of  Africa,  of  the  best  work  in  Constan- 
tinople, and  much  of  that  in  Persia.  With 
all  its  rigid  formality  it  gives  a  wide  range 
of  expression,  in  which  natural  symbolism 


52  CEILINGS 

has  a  real  influence.  Though  the  medium 
be  solid  prisms  and  concave  blocks,  the 
plasticity  is  marvellously  achieved,  as  is 
demonstrated  not  so  much  in  the  varied 
outlines  of  arches,  but  in  endless  changes 
in  corbelling ;  in  the  flat,  domed  and  irregu- 
lar outlined  ceilings ;  one  mass  of  pendants 
differing  as  widely  in  form  and  proportion 
as  anything  in  nature  can  do.  That  the 
Mauresque  decorative  style  has  living 
elements  in  it  is  proved  by  its  pliability, 
its  adaptability  to  local  needs  as  it  conquers 
new  regions  and  races,  without  losing  il 
fundamental  peculiarities.  We  must  al- 
ways remember,  too,  in  speaking  o\ 
Mauresque  decorative  art  that  it  consists  of 
three  elements  :  colour  applied  to  flat  sur- 
faces, flat  incrustation,  and  the  built-up 
projection  incrustation,  any  two  of  which, 
or  all  three,  may  be  combined. 

Wyatt  cites  the  dome  of  the  tomb  of 
Selim  I.,  at  Constantinople,  as  the  most 
perfect  example  of  the  Turkish  phase  of 
Mauresque.  There  are  great  white  curves, 
foliated  to  some  degree,  combined  with 
knots,  picked  out  with  black  on  a  red  back- 
ground, the  whole  design  being  unified  by 


of 


THE    BYZANTINE  53 

the  great  central  star  of  sixteen  points 
formed  by  a  series  of  triangles.  Contrast 
this  simplicity  with  the  great  mosque  at 
Cordova,  with  its  low- vaulted  ceiling,  its 
crescent  arches  of  red  and  white  bands, 
supported  by  850  columns,  all  alike  in 
general  form,  but  differing  in  detailed 
ornamentation,  colour,  and  material.  It  is 
a  forest  of  red,  purple,  green,  and  white 
columns  arched  over  in  all  directions,  an 
ordered  maze,  in  which  one  hardly  knows 
whether  to  admire  most,  the  entrancing 
chromatic  scheme  or  the  impression  con- 
veyed of  endless  vistas,  turn  whithersoever 
you  may.  Before  this  gem  was  ruthlessly 
dealt  with  by  his  vandalic  majesty, 
Charles  V.,  all  these  vistas  converged  on 
the  Mihrab,  which  was  one  mass  of  gor- 
geous arabesques.  At  the  Alhambra, 
again,  we  wander  from  one  wonder  to  an- 
other. Consider  the  Court  of  Lions,  with 
its  ranges  of  slim  columns,  placed  singly, 
or  in  sets  of  two  and  three,  their  decorated 
capitals  supporting  tall,  narrow  arches, 
merging  into  a  mass  of  scalloped  beauty  of 
red  and  gold,  with  occasional  tints  of  blue 
and  green,   so  suggestive  of  an  African 


I 


54  CEILINGS 

orchard  ablaze  with  blooms  and  luscious 
fruits;  while  in  the  Hall  of  the  Aben- 
cerrages  our  vision  is  lost  aloft  in  splendid 
groups  of  pendant  stalactites  which  cover 
every  inch  of  space.     In  the  Hall  of  the 
Two  Sisters  no  less  than  5,000  plaster 
cubes,  projecting  considerably  and  merely 
backed    by   a   few   reeds,   enter   into  the 
elaborate  composition  of  the  ceiling.    At 
Toledo  we  have  the  white  colonnade  in 
Santa  Maria  la  Blanca,  with  its  three  rows 
of  heavy  octagonal  white  columns,   blue 
incrusted  bases,  intricately  voluted  gold 
capitals      supporting      white      horseshoe 
arches,  and  above  a  mass  of  gold  tracery  on 
blue.     Pascal  Coste  describes  the  Mosque 
of  Meshjed-i-Shah,  Ispahan  (built  towards 
the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  begin- 
ning   of    the    seventeenth),     where    the 
enormous  building,  with  its  vaulted  ceil- 
ings and  cupolas,  is  one  mass  of  decora- 
tion,   partly    flat    and    partly    projecting 
incrustations.    The  predominating  colours 
are  turquoise  blue  and  lapis  lazuli.     The 
whole  surface  is  covered  with  small  glazed 
bricks,  either  self  coloured  or  ornamented 
with  delicate  tracery.     With  these  bricks 


2 


m 


u 


THE    BYZANTINE  55 

very  complicated  designs  are  worked  out. 
Though  the  general  colouring  is  a  blend  of 
blues,  whites,  pale  green,  bright  red  and 
buff  are  also  used  but  sparingly,  the  reds 
especially  appearing  in  thin  broken  lines 
or  little  dots  like  a  flame-coloured  star  in  a 
blue  firmament,  or  a  glaring  flower  amidst 
green  foliage.  Buff  is  rather  unexpectedly 
used  in  masses,  occasionally  in  the  sides  of 
cupolas.  Although  blue  is  again  the  pre- 
vailing colour,  a  very  different  effect  is 
realised  at  Pavilion  of  the  Eight  Doors  of 
Paradise  which  Fetteh  AH  Shah  built  for 
his  eight  favourites  at  Ispahan  (latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century).  Here  the  tall 
octagonal  cupola,  with  its  eight  great 
arches  is  built  up,  tier  upon  tier,  with  eight 
alcoves,  the  whole  being  a  mass  of  niches  of 
considerable  size. 

Girault  de  Prangey  speaks  of  ceilings  of 
wood  with  incrusted  decorations  in  the 
Alcazar  at  Cordova,  while  Bourgoin  has 
preserved  a  coloured  reproduction  of  a  most 
interesting  flat  ceiling  from  Cairo.  His 
brief  description  reads  thus  :  "Plafond  d 
Solive  apparentes,  en  troncs  de  palmiers, 
recouvers    'd'une    envelope    de    planches 


56  CEILINGS 

d e coupS s."  The  palm-tree  beams  are 
recessed  in  the  framing  of  planks,  and  in 
these  deep  square  caissons  are  cut.  The 
framing  runs  right  round  the  long  ceiling, 
with  two  broad  bands  separating  the  three 
longitudinal^  laid  beams.  The  end  cross 
pieces  and  the  longitudinal  strips  for  about 
a  quarter  of  the  length  are  painted  bright 
red  and  ornamented  with  buff  floral  de- 
signs sparingly  gemmed  with  white  and 
turquoise  blue.  The  remainder  of  the  plank 
framing  is  painted  a  darker  blue  with  gold 
arabesques.  The  beams  are  gilded  and 
covered  thickly  with  blue  arabesques.  The 
caissons  are  blue  with  gold  arabesques, 
gemmed  with  white  and  red.  It  is  a  daring 
constructional  and  decorative  scheme, 
marked  by  a  rich  elegance  racy  of  the  soil, 
which  has  given  us  the  polychromatic 
enamelling  of  ancient  Egypt  and  religions 
characterised  by  the  weird  imaginings  of 
the  King-gods  and  Priest-kings  of  old  and 
of  the  Koran.  Does  it  not  add  to  our 
appreciation  of  this  perfect  piece  of  work 
when  we  know  that  the  ceiling  was  not  de- 
signed to  adorn  a  palace  or  a  dwelling  of 
some  wealthy  member  of  the  community, 


THE    BYZANTINE  57 

but  to  cover  in  a  public  fountain,  for  the 
edification  of  the  whole  community  ?  To 
give  water  to  the  thirsty  in  this  parched 
land  is  an  act  of  humanity  in  conformity 
with  the  religious  sentiments  of  the  people, 
and  in  a  sense  a  fountain  becomes  a  shrine. 
The  ceiling  of  the  Ibn-Touloun  mosque  in 
Egypt,  figured  by  Girault  de  Prangey, 
shows  exposed  beams  covered  with  carved 
panels,  both  large  and  small,  on  soffits  and 
sides. 

This  reminds  us  of  certain  Chinese 
ceilings  described  by  Ferguson.  The 
Chinese  scheme  of  colouring  is  akin  to  the 
Saracenic.  Light  blue  is  used  for  the  pre- 
dominant colour  of  upper  decorations.  For 
instance,  their  roofs  are  covered  with 
glazed  blue  tiles,  their  ceilings  are  blue, 
except  in  Imperial  buildings,  where  the 
sacred  yellow  replaces  the  cerulean  hue. 
Green  is  used  for  the  friezes,  red  for  the 
pillars,  with  gold  for  the  tracery  designs. 
Ferguson  says  :  "Asa  rule  the  halls  are 
ceiled  above  the  tie-beams,  the  ceiling 
being  divided  into  coffers;  more  impor- 
tance is  given  to  the  central  bay,  which  is 
sunk  into  deep  coffers  with  bracket  friezes 


•e 

A 


58  CEILINGS 

round  them.  Some  of  the  walls  are  covered 
with  open  timber  roofs,  in  which  the 
nnwrought  rafters  covering  the  roof  con- 
trast with  the  elaborate  painting  and 
gilding  of  the  columns  and  the  heavy 
superimposed  beams  of  the  roof."  Cer- 
tainly, the  first  part  of  this  paragraph 
describes  a  constructional  and  decorative 
method  very  similar  to  that  adopted  in  the 
Cairo  ceiling. 

Bourgoin's  example  of  the  mon 
commonplace  flat  ceilings  from  round 
about  Cairo  ornamented  with  polygonals 
and  cubes,  painted  on  flat,  show  the  end- 
less designs  that  can  be  produced  by  these 
geometrical  figures  alone,  or  supplemented 
by  knots  and  tracery.  We  find  ceilings 
one  mass  of  red  picked  out  with  gold  or 
black.  Blue  and.  yellow  are  employed  in 
the  same  way.  At  other  times,  in  place  of 
massing  the  colours,  we  see  them  broken 
up  by  the  intermingling  of  smaller  figures, 
In  these  simple  forms  we  find  the  basic 
expression  of  a  system  betraying  a  men- 
tality very  different  from  our  own,  but  of 
the  grandeur  of  this  ordered  method  we 
have   no  doubt,   for  in  it  are  these  re- 


THE    BYZANTINE  59 

vealing  tracings,  while  the  genius  and 
idealism  of  its  founders  is  manifested  in  its 
far-spread  elaborations. 

In  considering  Mauresque  art  as  mainly 
a  matter  of  surface  decoration  we  must  not 
forget  that  the  whole  Saracenic  school  dis- 
plays a  true  mastery  in  a  well-defined  field 
of  woodwork.  Wood  is  treated  after  the 
same  manner  as  plaster  prisms,  so  far  as 
material  is  concerned,  but  with  a  very 
different  aim  and  effect.  It  is  cut  up  into 
narrow  strips  of  varying  length,  usually 
straight,  though  occasionally  curved,  and 
rectangular  in  section.  With  these  strips, 
pieced  together  and  dovetailed,  wonderful 
pierced  panels  of  geometrical  and  floral 
patterns  are  produced,  fitting  into  flat 
frames  with  inner  borders  of  little  round 
balls,  cubes,  and  pyramids.  Such  panels 
are  habitually  placed  in  window  spaces, 
like  the  pierced  tracery  stone  window 
panels  of  the  Byzantines,  to  be  seen  not 
only  in  Eastern  but  in  Italian  churches. 
The  Arab  copies  from  these,  or  perhaps 
from  Indian  and  Chinese  examples,  reach- 
ing them  by  way  of  Persia,  but  sub- 
stituting wood  or  plaster  for  the  marble 


6o  CEILINGS 

and  other  stone.  Some  of  the  finest  speci- 
mens of  these  were  put  up  in  the  tomb  of 
the  Caliphs  at  Cairo.  As  for  the  wood 
tracery  panels,  these  were  placed  in 
windows  flat,  or  with  the  aid  of  smaller 
side,  top,  and  bottom  panels  forming  into 
projecting  casements.  They  are  also  used 
as  screens  above  arches,  reaching  to  the 
ceiling,  adding  to  the  intricacy  of  light  and 
colour  effects  overhead.  Then  again, 
while  over  timber  roof  work  is  rare  with 
them,  beams  are  sometimes  worked  into  a 
scheme  of  decoration,  as  we  see  above ;  but 
boarded  ceilings  not  only  form  the  founda- 
tion for  the  built-up  pendant,  the  panels 
are  covered  with  a  smooth  coating  of 
plaster,  or  the  boards  themselves  painted 
with  all  the  elaboration  of  geometrical 
science. 

We  have  mentioned  the  great  can 
bestowed  on  the  problems  of  natural  light- 
ing. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  both  the 
Byzantine  and  the  Mauresque  schools 
handled  sunlight  as  they  did  colour,  with  a 
conscious  art  aim.  The  Byzantines  filled 
their  comparatively  small  windows, 
deepset  in  the  walls,  with  richly  coloured 


il 

II 


THE    BYZANTINE  61 

glass,  or  with  pierced  tracery  stone  slabs ; 
the  Moors  had  pierced  tracery  plastered 
panels,  and  the  whole  Saracenic  school 
pierced  wood  panels.  Often  the  piercing 
was  given  an  oblique  trend,  either  up- 
wards or  downwards,  so  that  the  light  could 
be  trained  to  fall  as  desired.  The  same 
principle  was  utilised  even  more  boldly  in 
lighting  their  cupolas.  Outside  are  a 
number  of  small  holes  and  slits,  so  cau- 
tiously made  that  they  are  confounded  with 
the  surface  traceries.  But  these  orifices 
enlarged  gradual^  as  they  are  carried 
through  the  mass  of  the  wall,  either  in  a 
horizontal  line  or  upward,  downward  or 
sideways  slant,  and  finally,  as  they  en- 
large on  the  inner  face  of  the  cupola,  they 
expand  into  beautiful  forms,  wide-rayed 
stars,  octagon  and  foliated  designs  all  out- 
lined in  colour  or  gold.  Usually  the  outer 
opening  is  glazed  with  coloured  glass. 
Thus  with  these  spreading  pencils  of  pure 
white  and  tinted  light  they  bring  this 
feature  into  relief,  allow  others  to  remain 
half  veiled  from  view,  the  planets  and  stars 
in  the  firmament  being  called  in  to  add 
ever  changing  beauties  to  the  chromatic 
poem. 


CHAPTER    IV 


MOSAICS 


Man's  earliest  attempts  at  decoration  were 
by  the  incised  method  applied  to  the  walls 
of  his  cave,  as  well  as  the  sides  of  the  great 
monolithic  stones  he  used  in  worship, 
which  he  adorned  with  dots,  rings,  circular 
cup-like  hollows  and  curving  lines.  But 
when  mud  walls  began  to  be  built,  fre- 
quently with  courses  of  stone  or  wattle- 
work  peeping  out,  the  desire  to  ornamenl 
them  with  bands  of  shells,  patches  oi 
coloured  stones  stuck  in  the  soft  material 
(just  as  we  see  to  this  day  in  the  flint-faced 
cottages  of  East  Anglia)  must  have  been 
irresistible.  It  is  probably  in  this  way  thai 
the  art  of  using  small  pieces  of  con- 
trastingly coloured  stone,  bedded  in  th< 
surface  of  a  building  in  order  to  produce 
pattern,  originated.  At  all  events,  speci- 
62 


9       1) 


MOSAICS  63 

mens  of  this  style,  even  of  a  refined 
character,  go  back  to  remote  periods  in 
Egypt,  and  Layard  found  ivory  and  gold 
tesserae  in  Nimroud. 

Pliny,  mentioning  the  use  of  mosaics  in 
Rome,  says  that  Scylax  first  introduced 
"  stone-laid  work  "  about  80  B.C.  It 
rapidly  spread,  and  from  the  time  of 
Constantine  the  Great  (a.d.  320)  onward 
the  art  assumed  enormous  importance, 
both  on  account  of  the  frequency  with 
which  its  aid  was  sought  in  embellishing 
public  and  private  buildings,  and  the  high 
perfection  in  design  and  execution  to  which 
it  was  brought. 

Of  the  making  of  mosaics,  as  we  have 
said,  there  are,  if  not  endless,  certainly 
many  ways.  If  the  Egyptians  and 
Assyrians  employed  small  regularly 
shaped  cubes,  in  Rome  and  other  places 
squares  and  oblongs,  triangular  and  circu- 
lar pieces,  pentagons,  hexagons,  octagons 
and  other  geometrical  figures  were  called 
into  service,  and  much  effective  work  was 
accomplished  with  small  and  large  irregu- 
larly shaped  pieces.  Moreover,  the 
contrasting  materials  differed  widely  both 


64  CEILINGS 


as  regards  periods  and  locality.  We  find 
the  Romans  adorning  the  vaults  and  ceil- 
ings of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla  with  plain 
black  and  white  mosaics.  In  some  cases 
the  ceiling  was  framed  round  with  lines 
and  foliage,  then  the  whole  surface  divided 
up  into  big  oblong  panels  with  intersecting 
small  circles  and  squares,  the  oblongs  con- 
taining coarsely  drawn  gigantic  figures  of 
athletes  very  spirited  in  appearance,  the 
smaller  panels  filled  in  with  laurel 
wreaths,  a  discus  or  other  article  used  in 
the  circus  and  training  school.  Such 
simple  contrasts  scarcely  satisfied  the  taste 
for  luxury,  and  so  both  large  and  small 
tesserse  of  coloured  marbles,  alabaster,  and 
other  costly  stones  rapidly  came  into 
fashion  and  long  remained  popular,  though 
component  parts  often  differed  according  to 
locality.  This  adaptation  of  materials 
close  at  hand  for  decorative  purposes  is 
quaintly  and  strikingly  illustrative  in  the 
volcanic  mosaics.  In  these  cases,  lava  of 
different  shades  is  cut  into  thin  slabs, 
divided  into  cubes,  or  broken  up  into 
irregular  fragments,  the  fine  grained  sur- 
face   being    highly    polished,    and    then, 


MOSAICS  65 

imbedded  in  plaster,  elaborate  designs  pro- 
duced. Perhaps  the  best  specimens  of  this 
style  are  to  be  seen  on  the  Duomo  and  great 
cloisters  of  Monreale  in  Sicily,  constructed 
out  of  lava  belched  forth  from  Etna  and 
brought  in  a  molten  flood  to  the  very  hands 
of  the  designers.  Other  notable  examples 
are  to  be  seen  in  the  churches  of  Amalfi 
and  Ravello  from  the  lava  cast  out  from 
Vesuvius,  and  in  those  of  the  puy-du- 
Dome  from  material  deposited  in  past  ages 
by  long  since  extinct  craters.  Another 
school,  that  of  the  Easternised  Greeks  of 
Byzantium,  fired  by  the  sensuous  glories  of 
Asia,  added  glass  as  a  predominating 
material,  thus  introducing  the  most  vivid 
colours,  scintillating  effects,  and  the  mar- 
vellous foil  of  gold  beneath  clear  or  tinted 
vitrious  glazes.  A  variation  on  this  is  in- 
troduced with  the  use  of  small  self-coloured 
glazed  tiles,  or  tiles  decorated  with  filigree 
patterns. 

Ciampini,  who  has  probably  written 
most  fully  and  learnedly  upon  the  subject, 
divides  the  art  of  mosaic  into  four  great 
classes.  Tesselatum  consists  of  small 
cubes   of   marble   fin.    square    (tesserae), 

E 


66  CEILINGS 

usually  black  and  white  and  worked  into 
geometrical  patterns,  and  sectile  is  com- 
posed of  slices  of  marble  (sectilia) ,  generally 
employed  to  produce  broad  effects,  rarely 
for  elaborate  subjects.  Both  of  these,  our 
author  puts  down  as  pavement  work.  But, 
as  we  have  seen,  black  and  white  mosaics 
were  used  in  the  vaulted  roofs  of  the 
Baths  of  Caracalla.  The  third  class  is 
figilnum,  known  in  Italy  as  lavoro  di 
smalto,  fictile  work,  composed  of  very 
small  fragments  of  a  compound  of 
silica  and  alumina,  coloured  by  oxides 
and,  of  course,  produced  in  the  glass 
maker's  furnace.  In  this  way,  any  colour 
can  be  obtained,  with  great  brilliance 
and  softness.  This  is  used  on  walls  and 
vaulted  spaces.  Vermiculatum  is  a  mix 
ture  of  cubes  of  coloured  marbles 
(figilnum),  gold  beneath  enamel,  and  even 
precious  stones  employed  to  produce  com 
plete  pictures,  with  human  figures 
animals,  plants  and  so  on  in  their  natural 
colour.  This,  too,  is  for  adorning  walls 
and  ceilings.  A  fifth  class  is  the  opus 
Grecanicum,  consisting  of  incrustation 
grooves    cut   in    white    marble,    or   oth 


i 


; 


MOSAICS  67 

stone,  of  tiny  cubes  of  coloured  and  gilded 
smalto,  together  with  cubes  of  serpentine, 
porphyry  and  other  costly  materials.  It 
is  usually  handled  to  produce  conventional 
and  geometrical  designs,  in  thin  ribbons, 
broad  bands  or  smallish  panels,  outlining 
the  semi-circle  of  an  arch,  or  embellishing 
its  intrados,  ringing  the  capital  of  a  pillar, 
emphasising  a  window  or  lending  colour 
and  distinction  wherever  most  needed. 
Opus  Grecanicum  was  used  to  outline  the 
entablature,  arches  and  capitals  at  San 
Lorenza-fuori-Mura,  Rome,  while  in  the 
cloisters  of  San  Giovanni  Laterano  the 
variously  shaped  columns — circular,  octa- 
gonal and  twisted — are  adorned  with  this 
form  of  mosaic  in  vertical  bands  or  in 
spirals. 

As  regards  style,  the  Roman  mosaics 
were  employed  chiefly  in  carrying  out  geo- 
metrical and  conventional  designs,  though 
natural  objects  were  by  no  means 
excluded,  as  we  see  by  the  above  men- 
tioned athletes,  and  as  we  know  from  that 
chained  house  dog,  "  Cave  Canum," 
found  at  Pompeii  and  reproduced  in  all 
kinds  of  materials  ad  nauseam  for  many 


68  CEILINGS 

years  past.  In  the  early  days  their  first 
work  seems  to  have  been  reserved  for 
pavements,  and  also  for  conventional  mural 
and  vault  decoration.  When  natural 
objects  were  attempted  ^  coarse  work  is  the 
rule,  as  this  appears  to  be  most  effective 
when  seen  at  a  distance,  more  especially 
when  placed  at  a  considerable  height. 
Serlio  gives  reproductions  of  some  very 
fine,  exquisitely  conceived  mosaics  from 
the  temple  of  Bacchus  and  the  Baths  of 
Diocletian,  which  was  mixed  with  carved 
stone  and  stucco  work  in  the  vaults. 

Originally  Byzantine  work  had  strong 
traces  of  the  Roman  and  Grecian  love  of 
conventional  incidental  decoration,  though 
expanding  in  the  luxuriancy  of  the  Orient. 
Nevertheless  the  religious  sentiment  pre- 
vailed, and  the  Byzantine  artists  in 
mosaics  also  set  the  law  in  this  for  the 
whole  of  medieval  Europe,  and  employed 
their  art  largely  to  depict  natural  objects 
suitable  to  adorn  their  basilicas.  The 
rich  cubes  are  imbedded  in  cement  cover- 
ing the  walls  and  vaults.  Pictures 
usually  have  a  background  of  gold 
tesserae,  and  are  elaborately  framed  with 


MOSAICS  69 

conventional  line  or  foliated  designs. 
Specimens  of  this  work  are  to  be  seen 
almost  all  over  Europe,  but  the  best 
adorned  are  the  Cathedral  of  San  Marco 
and  other  churches  in  Venice,  where  the 
art  was  carried  to  a  pitch  of  perfection.  In 
Sicily,  and  certain  Southern  Italian 
towns,  the  Byzantine  mosaics  have  a  pecu- 
liar character,  apparently  influenced  by 
Saracenic  taste.  Wonderful  specimens 
are  to  be  seen  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Monreale,  near  Palermo,  which,  with  its 
precincts,  is  lavishly  enriched  with 
mosaics  of  the  polychrome  vermiculatum 
and  the  monochrome  volcanic  types.  The 
most  celebrated  is  the  half-figure  of  our 
Saviour,  greatly  exceeding  life  size, 
shown  in  the  act  of  benediction  in  accord- 
ance with  Roman  ritual,  which  occupies 
the  semi-dome  of  the  apse.  Vivid  colours 
are  used,  and  the  background  is  of  the 
characteristic  broken  gold  type.  The  tes- 
serae are  rather  large  and  of  irregular 
outline. 

With  the  Renaissance  freedom  was 
sought  from  the  rich  yet  austere  formal- 
ism    of     Byzantium.      Michel     Angelo, 


7o  CEILINGS 

Raphael  and  other  foremost  artists  of  the 
day  designed  set  pictures,  and  decorative 
pieces    for    mosaic    work    in    churches, 
ecclesiastical  and  other  buildings.     They 
painted  in  mosaic  as  they  painted  in  fresco 
or  oils,  and  if  they  adopted  some  of  the 
exuberant    grotesques    and    other    acces- 
sories from  antiquity,  they  discarded  the 
older  style  of  the  Latins  of  outlining  b] 
means   of  a   series  of  rectangular   steps, 
such  as  we  see  in  needlework  tapestry, 
memento  of  the  large  square  cubes.     Ver 
beautiful  work  was  produced  under  these 
masters  and  their   successors,   in   which, 
however,    occasionally   naturalism   jostles 
somewhat      incongruously      with      wein 
arabesque    fantasies.      Naturalism,    how- 
ever, was  not  altogether  neglected  by  th< 
men  of  old ;  witness  the  huge  spreadinj 
vine  incrusting  the  whole  vault  of  the  bap- 
tistry dedicated  by  Constantine  to  Sant; 
Costanza,  which  stands  near  the  basilica  oi 
Sant'   Agnesi-fouri-le-Mura.     It  conveys 
the  idea  of  a  pergola  in  some  monastery  01 
country  villa,  although  amidst  its  leaves 
are     introduced     numerous     symbols     of 
Christianity.     The  vine  itself,  of  course, 


nm 


%■   ' 

^tiffliitlf 

■. 

'"■• 

>.'«J/;a;,        : 

a 

Ceiling  in  Small  Gallery,  Villa  Santi.   Rome.      Raphael 


MOSAICS  71 

was  among  the  chief  of  Christian 
emblems,  symbolising  the  Saviour.  This 
work  is  a  mixture  of  coarse  tesselatum  and 
fine  vermiculatum. 

The  Turks  in  Constantinople  and  Asia 
Minor  modestly,  but  effectively  enough, 
carried  on  the  Byzantine  traditions  by 
employing  rather  large  pieces  of  glazed 
earthenware.  In  Persia — where,  indeed, 
mosaic  seems  to  be  indigenous,  judging 
from  the  very  ancient,  very  persistent  and 
commonly  used  form  of  decoration  on  pot- 
tery, graven  and  enamelled  metal  vessels, 
stitchery,  and  so  on;  the  mosaic  work  is 
carried  out  by  means  of  small,  highly 
glazed  bricks,  with  occasional  resort  to 
a  large  piece  of  faience.  The  Mauresque 
style  admits  both  a  modified  form  of  the 
Byzantine  fictile,  and  the  use  of  fairly 
large  tiles  impressed  with  deep  cut,  very 
intricate  geometrical  and  knot  tracery 
patterns,  these  being  smeared  over  with 
coloured  cements,  so  that  a  contrasting 
tracery  stands  out  from  the  background. 
Such  tiles  may  be  complete  in  themselves 
as  regards  embellishment  or  form  a  part  of 
an    extended    design.     The    cubes    were 


72  CEILINGS 

made  of  clay,  squeezed  into  moulds  of  dif- 
ferent shapes,  glazed,  and  then  fired 
(baked) .  The  edges  were  slightly  bevelled 
to  facilitate  removal  and  give  a  good  key. 
In  India  a  particular  school  of  mosaic 
art  seems  to  have  had  its  centre  at  Agra 
and  Delhi.  It  is  said  to  be  foreign  to  the 
country,  imported  by  Italian  workers 
imbued  with  the  Byzantine  feeling.  If 
so,  the  Indians  knew  how  to  accept  a  good 
thing  and  make  it  their  own.  But  there  is 
much  in  native  decoration  both  of  architec- 
ture and  in  the  enamelling  of  metals  that 
suggests  a  much  older  origin.  Indian 
mosaic  consists  of  an  incrustation  of  very 
small  pieces  of  marble,  jasper,  agate, 
blood-stone  and  other  precious  stones, 
placed  very  close  together.  It  is  fine 
work,  almost  luscious  in  colouring.  The 
designs  are  good,  but  quite  Hindu  in  feel- 
ing, with  practically  no  attempt  to  copy 
nature,  though  with  an  underlying  hint 
sufficient  to  give  animation  and  to  suggest 
highly  conventionalised  symbolism.  We 
have  historical  evidence  that  the  pietra 
dura  work  in  the  Diwan-S'-Aur  Hall  in  the 
Palace  of  Delhi  was  carried  out  by  Austin 


MOSAICS  73 

of  Bordeaux,  and  here  we  have  a  certain 
admission  of  birds  and  figures.  In  the 
Taj  Mahal  the  spirit  is  Asiatic,  the  span- 
drels, angles  and  more  important  details 
being  incrusfed  with  mosaic  in  precious 
stones,  arranged  in  wreaths,  scrolls  and 
frets.  Indeed,  looking  at  the  glowing 
bands  of  mosaics,  it  is  difficult  not  to 
believe  that  the  root  idea  of  this  embellish- 
ment is  derived  from  the  festal  garlanding 
of  persons  and  shrines  with  flora  of  the 
country.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
Indian  gardens  and  forests  are  green 
caskets  afire  with  crimson  and  gold 
flowers,  softened  by  sky-blue  blooms  and 
waxen  white  petals.  Sir  George  Bird- 
wood,  writing  of  the  red  silk  cotton  tree, 
says  he  M  came  upon  a  grassy  glade  over- 
hanging the  profound  forest  depths  below, 
and  there,  at  its  furthest  edge,  stood  a 
colossal  specimen  of  this  tree,  quite  fifty 
feet  high,  the  trunk  straight  as  the  mast  of 
some  great  ammiral,  deeply  buttressed  at 
its  base,  and  sending  out  horizontal 
branches,  like  the  yard-arms  of  a  ship,  in 
whorls  of  five  and  seven,  gradually  taper- 
ing to  the  top,  and  at  this  season — the 


74  CEILINGS 

month  of  March — leafless,  but  covered  on 
every  branch,  in  place  of  green  leaves,  with 
huge  crimson  flowers   (by  reflected  light 
crimson  ;  by  transmitted,  the  radiant  red  of 
a  ruby),  each  from  seven  to  five  inches  in 
diameter,  and  forming  in  the  mass  a  vast 
dome-like,  symmetrical  head  that,  with  the 
beams  of  the  rising  sun  striking  through 
it,  shone  in  its  splendour  of  celestial,  rosy 
red  like  a  mountain  of  rubies.' '     He  also 
speaks  of  the  golden  flowered  bava,  the 
purple   taman,    vermilion   chrome   yello' 
flowered    pulas,    the    scarlet    pangri,    a 
fine  trees.      Then   there   are   the   olean 
ders    and  rhododendrons,   the   roses   an 
jasmines,   and  hundreds  more,   both  bi 
and   little.      With   all   these  wonders   o 
nature  about  them,  is  not  a  jewelled  styl 
of  decoration  the  most  obvious  and  appro 
priate,  whether  on  ceilings,  on  handsom 
vessels,  or  personal  raiment? 

Necessarily,  practice  in  laying  mosaic 
differs    rather    widely    according    to    the 
materials  used.      Indian  mosaic,  like  the 
riches  of   vermiculatum,   is   made   up  o 
small  pieces,  and  these  are  imbedded  in  the 
cement  so  as  to  form  a  close  jointing,  the 


e 


MOSAICS  75 

aim  being  to  produce  an  effect  of  fine 
embroidery  or  cloisonne  enamelling. 
Considerable  mixture  of  colours  is  the 
rule,  although  blue,  red,  or  yellow 
may  be  the  prevailing  hue,  white  and 
the  other  colours  being  placed  in  small 
dots  here  and  there  to  give  the  jewelled 
effect. 

Tile  work  also  requires  careful  jointing, 
but  here  colour  is  more  mixed. 

With  mural  and  ceiling  work  in  Europe 
of  the  medieval  period,  and  subsequently, 
a  distinct  aim  is  shown  to  produce  a  glow- 
ing, animated  picture.  Colour  is  used  as 
in  ordinary  painting,  and  even  shading  is 
admitted.  Flatness  is  redeemed  by  break- 
ing up  of  the  surface  by  cubes.  No 
attempt  is  made  to  conceal  joints  by  bring- 
ing pieces  close  together  or  staining  the 
cement  stopping.  Indeed,  perhaps  the 
majority  of  the  best  specimens,  old  and 
new,  are  quite  coarse  in  execution.  If  the 
mosaics  of  Chigiana  Chapel  in  Santa  Maria 
del  Popolo,  those  of  St  Peter* s  in  Rome, 
and  those  upon  the  dome  of  London's  St 
Paul's  (respectively  fifteenth  and  nine- 
teenth century  work)  be  examined,  it  will 


76  CEILINGS 

be  seen  that  the  jointing  is  very  wide.  On 
the  other  hand,  grouping  and  drawing  are 
as  perfect  as  they  can  be.  This  is  right, 
for  they  are  meant  to  be  looked  at  from  a 
distance ;  they  are  essentially  brightening 
motives  in  a  general  scheme  of  decoration. 
Now,  under  these  conditions  wide  jointing 
and  other  lack  of  finish  is  not  seen,  indeed, 
too  elaborate  a  finish  would,  under  certain 
light  conditions,  produce  the  effect  of  mere 
flat  washes  of  colour.  But  the  quality  of 
grouping  and  drawing  is  easily  appreciated 
from  a  distance,  and  some  regard  to  per- 
spective must  be  paid.  The  best  artists 
always  emphasise  drawing  by  outlining  all 
profiles  with  a  row  of  tessera  of  the  same 
material  and  colour  as  the  background. 
This  throws  up  the  figures,  while  it  pre- 
vents the  outline  being  broken  upon  by  the 
horizontal  or  vertical  lines  of  the  back- 
ground, which  would  destroy  much  of  the 
effect. 

While  mosaic  is  commonly  employed  to 
give  brilliancy,  to  bring  light  into  dark 
places,  it  is  also  exceedingly  useful  when 
carefully  handled  to  correct  defects  of  plan- 
ning and  construction.     Horizontal  lines 


MOSAICS  77 

give  length  and  breadth,  vertical  lines  give 
height.  This  is  true  whether  bands  or 
panels  are  selected  by  the  designer. 
Quite  happy  results  may  be  achieved  when 
decorating  a  ceiling  if  this  is  borne  in 
mind,  while  for  adorning  cupolas  this 
method  is  invaluable.  The  very  structure 
of  mosaic  decoration  is  an  aid  to  training 
the  vision  in  the  way  desired,  emphasising 
the  general  flow  of  the  design  This  holds 
good  with  all  schools  of  mosaic,  though,  of 
course,  it  is  most  marked  when  small 
tesserae  are  the  medium. 


CHAPTER    V 


GOTHIC  CEILINGS 


Northern  Italy  cradled  the  Romanesque 
style,  whence  sprang  the  Gothic.  In  that 
region  of  high  alps  and  dense  forests  there 
arose  during  the  period  of  strife  and  tur- 
moil following  the  break-up  of  the  Roma 
Empire  a  style  of  architecture  which 
retaining  certain  features  of  classic 
examples,  developed  along  lines  strongly 
influenced  by  local  surroundings.  This 
Romanesque  style  gradually  travelled 
north-westwardly  across  Europe,  reachin 
our  shores  with  Willam  I.,  so  becoming 
known  to  us  as  Norman. 

It  is  essentially  the  child  of  a  dour, 
fighting  age,  characterised  by  heavily  built 
stone  walls  (though  brick,  concrete  and 
tiles  were  also  admitted),  round-headed 
windows,  doorways  and  arches,  barrel 
vaults,  and,  in  non-vaulted  chambers,  by 

78 


! 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS  79 

stout  timber  work  overhead.  Much  of  the 
ornamentation  retained  something  of  the 
classic  designs — the  chevron,  beakhead, 
tgg  and  tongue,  a  little  foliage  and  occa- 
sional grotesques — but  all  reduced  to  quite 
a  subordinate  position.  Although  in  some 
of  the  vaulted  chambers  the  groining  was 
excellent  as  regards  sweeping  outlines  and 
the  severity  of  ornamentation,  the  decora- 
tion of  ceilings  at  this  period  calls  for  little 
remark. 

What  is  important  for  us  to  remember 
is  that  the  Romanesque  was  merely  a  step 
away  from  the  formalism  of  the  Latin  type 
of  architecture  towards  a  freer  expression 
of  art  aspiration,  engendered  by  very  dif- 
ferent social  and  spiritual  ideals.  It  was  a 
preparation  for  the  Gothic,  and  in  the 
various  stages  of  transition  we  trace  a 
steady  development  towards  an  aspiring 
style,  an  elaboration  in  detail  separated  in 
character  and  feeling  from  classic  models. 
Latin  decorative  art  at  its  most  exuberant 
period,  and  in  its  decline,  speaks  to  us  of 
the  superculture  of  luxurious  town  dwell- 
ers. It  betrays  the  influence  of  the 
Roman     engineers'     geometry,     of     the 


8o  CEILINGS 


involved  tricks  dear  to  the  hearts  of  Latin 
garden  makers. 

As  we  turn  to  Gothic  work,  however,  we 
recognise  the  effort  of  men  face  to  face  with 
nature,  whose  caste  of  mind  was  moulded 
by  the  forest  and  the  countryside  in  its 
undressed  aspects.  It  is  emphatically  the 
pointed  style.  Both  inside  and  out  the 
lines  end  upwards  more  or  less  in  sweeping 
curves,  diversified  with  pendants  from 
inner  roofs,  and  ever  more  and  more 
elaborated  finials  outside.  The  windows  in 
the  early  English  period  were  lancet 
shaped,  tall  and  narrow,  placed  singly  or 
grouped,  like  openings  in  a  wood.  And 
when  the  windows  grew  larger  some  of 
them  took  floral  forms — trefoils,  quarter- 
foils  and  rose-petalled — which  brings  about 
reinforcement  with  stone  mullions,  arran- 
ged mostly  in  geometrical  tracery,  foliage 
and  branch  forms.  Indeed,  we  sometimes 
see,  as  in  Dorchester  Church,  Oxfordshire, 
the  mullions  elaborated  into  a  regular  tree 
form,  the  tree  of  Jesse,  springing  from  the 
bowels  of  the  recumbent  patriarch,  its 
spreading  branches  blossoming  forth  with 
little  Statuettes  representing  his  posterity. 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS  Si 

So  it  is  with  the  pillars.  In  the  early 
stages  we  have  slender  columns  grouped 
round  a  more  massive  central  column. 
The  capitals  are  often  subordinated  so  that 
the  impression  is  that  the  column  itself 
branches  out  in  all  directions  to  form  the 
far-reaching  groins  of  the  roof.  In 
London  we  have  good  examples  of  this  in 
the  round  Temple  Church  (1185),  the 
Guildhall  crypt  (fifteenth  century),  with 
very  little  decoration;  in  the  Beauchamp 
Chapel,  Warwick  (fifteenth  century), 
where  the  slender  columns  merge  directly 
into  the  ribs  forming  the  intricate  groining 
of  the  roof,  the  ribs  braced  by  ribs  running 
at  right  angles  and  forming  pentagons, 
slightly  voluted,  but  showing  considerable 
reserve  in  the  matter  of  foliation.  In  spite 
of  this,  however,  this  rather  flat  stone  roof 
gives  the  impression  of  a  network  of  twin- 
ing branches,  the  surface  being  far  more 
covered  than  in  the  other  two  cases  cited. 
In  the  Chapel  of  Henry  VII.,  Westminster 
Abbey,  the  ribbing  of  the  stone  roof  is  most 
elaborate,  each  rib  springing  from  capitals 
decorated  with  foliage.     The  roof  itself  is  a 

F 


82 


CEILINGS 


mass  of  tracery,  very  complex  in  design,  in 
which  circles,  squares,  octagons  and  other 


PENDANT,   WESTMINSTER   ABBEY 

figures  appear,  with  bosses  and  great  pen 
dants  at  the  intersections. 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS 


83 


The  bosses  are  well-carved  branches  of 
holly,  while  the  pendants  are  purely  archi- 


1     'a 

v.  M 


PENDANT,  ROSSLYN   CHAPEL 

tectural  in  form,  only  retaining  a  sugges- 
tion of  their  vegetal  ancestry  in  the  way 
they  spring  from  the  ribs  adorned  with 


84  CEILINGS 

strawberry  leaves,  and  their  circling 
wreaths  of  holly.  Enormously  as  Gothic 
pendants  differ  from  each  other,  and  while 
far  less  close  to  the  representation  of  a 
bunch  of  flowers  or  fruit  than  the  same 
type  of  ornament  met  with  in  the  built-up 
style  of  the  Mauresque,  yet  they  have  obvi- 
ously grown  out  of  the  bosses.  Frequently, 
however,  we  find  them  developing  into 
miniature  tabernacles,  with  niches  protect- 
ing small  figures,  as  in  the  remarkable 
example,  one  of  many,  from  Rosslyn 
Chapel.  As  regards  the  Henry  VII 
Chapel,  the  tracery,  the  eastern  end  ov 
the  founder's  tomb  is  divided  into  numer- 
ous compartments,  in  which  astonishing 
variations  are  produced,  the  tracery  here 
also  forming  circles,  square  and  other 
figures.  The  central  point  of  the  schem 
is  a  big  pendant,  with  six  others  as  second 
ary  centres,  where  the  ribs  converge 
Further  modifications  are  introduced  over 
the  nave  and  oratories.  In  St  George's 
Chapel,  Windsor,  the  pillars  expand  into 
many  branches  and  form  over  the  organ- 
loft  a  ribbed  ceiling  of  remarkable 
intricacy.    The  tracery  consists  of  a  circle 


er 


r 


u 

h 

c 
w 

C 


1       •=? 


a 
a 

o 


<0J3 

=- 

o 
O 


00 


0) 

o 
E 
h 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS  85 

enclosing  panels  within  radiated  mould- 
ings, while  in  the  middle  are  the  arms  of 
Henry  VIII.  and  the  date  1528,  with  other 
arms  and  badges  painted  in  their  proper 
heraldic  colours,  and  placed  within  circular 
and  diamond-shaped  mouldings.  Here,  as 
at  Westminster,  the  scheme  of  tracery 
varies  from  point  to  point  of  the  lofty  ellip- 
tical stone  ceiling,  but  right  down  the 
middle  of  the  nave  there  are  a  series  of 
moderately  proportioned  pendants,  mere 
protruberances  of  the  converging  tracery, 
like  drooping  bosses,  quite  distinct  from 
the  elaborate  constructional  forms  we  have 
already  described. 

Frequently  the  ribs  and  groins  are 
deeply  moulded.  In  some  cases,  as  in 
St  Peter's  Church,  Oxford,  we  find  ribs 
under  the  vaulted  roof  composed  of  little 
billets  and  oblongs,  producing  a  chain-like 
ornamentation,  the  links  at  intersections  of 
groins  being  small  square  cartouches 
decorated  with  crosses.  More  commonly, 
when  ribs  are  decorated,  the  ornamentation 
is  foliated,  either  conventionally,  as  was 
the  rule  in  the  early  English  period,  or  dis- 
tinctly moulded  after  nature,   as  in  the 


86  CEILINGS 

decorated  style  (fourteenth  to  sixteenth 
century).  The  ribs  themselves  often 
expand  into  redaff  ornaments,  like  loops, 
perforated  and  adorned  with  leaves  and 
flowers. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  boss  sometimes 
grew  into  heavy  pendants ;  but  frequently 
the  bunch  of  flowers  or  leaves  assumed  a 
purely  geometric  contour,  of  a  rosette,  o: 
expanded  into  a  wreath.    During  the  four 
teenth  century  they  became  very  large,  and 
in  the  course  of  the  two  following  centuries 
the  flat  rosettes  were  pierced  and  bordered 
with  ornaments.     At  other  times  we  find 
the     expansion     considerable,     a     single 
blossom,    a  wreath,   or  a  foliated   scroll, 
showing  by  way  of  central  bloom  a  figure  o: 
small    group    sculptured    in    high    relief 
The  corbels  supporting  the  springings  o 
an  arch,  or  the  ribs  of  groined  or  timbere 
ceilings  where  pillars  were  not  used,  under 
went  similar  modifications.      They  wer< 
sometimes    merely    sculptural,    at    other 
times  decorated  with  flowers  and  wreaths, 
but  often  amidst  these  little  bouquets,  o 
even  on  the  plain  supports,  we  find  fac 
and  figures  carved.    And  here  elfish  ideas 


a 

- 

d 


18, 

: 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS  87 

from  sylvan  retreats  seem  to  have  taken 
possession  of  the  sculptors,  for,  as  with  the 
gargoyles,  and  the  wood  carvings  of  choir 
stalls,  grotesques  are  more  often  found 
than  beautiful  forms.  It  is  curious  to 
observe,  however,  that  these  grotesques 
belong  to  quite  a  different  order  of  thought 
than  those  imagined  by  the  Romans  and 
their  imitators  of  the  Renaissance.  We  do 
occasionally  see  vegetables  giving  birth  to  a 
human  form,  as  in  that  amusing  folly  from 
the  lavabo  of  Saint  Wandrille,  or  a  human 
being  absorbed  into  the  vegetal  world,  as  in 
that  painful  mask  with  pairs  of  trefoils 
growing  from  forehead,  lower  lip  and  both 
ears,  which  formed  a  boss  in  the  cathedral 
of  Rouen  and  is  now  to  be  seen  in  the 
Museum,  a  type  common  enough  both  in 
France  and  England,  but  as  a  rule  there  is 
a  spirit  of  satire  in  these  sculptures,  in 
which  the  wielder  of  the  chisel  took  singu- 
lar liberties  with  his  superiors,  both  lay 
and  clerical,  and  displaying  a  license 
startling  in  a  church  or  its  precincts,  but 
far  more  human  in  its  freakishness  than 
the  older  type.  Hybrids  are  also  there, 
but  these  are  mostly  symbolical,  drawn 


88  CEILINGS 

from    those    quaint    aids    to    piety,    the 
medieval  bestiaries. 

Tracing  the  gradual  development  of 
decoration  we  find  in  early  Gothic  an 
underlying  feeling  that  the  forest  provides 
the  best  building  material.  This  is  con- 
veyed more  by  the  general  outline  than 
anything  else,  for  the  foliage  is  of  the  fan- 
tastic order.  But  in  the  thirteenth 
century  decorators  were  going  direct  to 
nature,  and  finding  their  models  close  at 
hand.  The  foliage  introduced  includes 
ivy,  vine,  oak,  strawberry,  apple,  ches- 
nut,  figy  parsley,  marshmallow,  liverwort, 
holly,  plum,  chicory,  and  even  the  homely 
celery  and  cabbage.  Then  came  the  black 
hellebore  and  sage,  followed  by  the 
geranium,  fern,  hawthorn  and  thistle,  with 
occasional  use  of  aquatic  plant  leaves.  Of 
course  there  was  considerable  variation  as 
to  models  used  at  different  localities.  In 
York  Minster  we  have  a  beautiful  example 
of  a  column  gracefully  twined  about  with 
trailing  dog-rose  in  full  bloom.  In  Rosslyn 
Chapel  we  find  a  splendidly  effective  use  of 
thistles  as  a  redaff  ornament  on  the  bold 
ribs.     Rosslyn  Chapel,  built  towards  the 


i 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS  89 

middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  is,  indeed, 
unique,  for  it  "  combines  the  solidity  of  the 
Norman  with  the  minute  decoration  of  the 
latest  period  of  the  Tudor  age."  Its 
walls,  built  of  great  stone  blocks,  appear- 
ing nakedly  enough,  bore  a  mass  of  ribs, 
arches  (no  less  than  thirteen  varieties), 
pillars  (fourteen  dissimilar  patterns  and 
decorations),  all  most  lavishly  carved,  the 
bold  thistle-ornamented  ribs  blossoming 
out  into  heavy  pendants,  each  with  their 
ring  of  little  figures.  Peeping  down  on 
these  from  amidst  heavy  carved  bands 
adorning  walls  and  groined  vaults  are  rows 
of  daring  grotesque  faces  and  half  lengths, 
while  strings  of  foliage  wind  upwards  in 
spirals  round  columns,  or  fill  the  deep  ver- 
tical flutings  on  others,  and  even  the 
pierced  foils  on  cerain  arches  carry  out  the 
same  idea  of  woody  thickets. 

When  thinking  of  these  groined  vaults, 
ribbed  stone,  and  heavily  timbered  ceil- 
ings, it  must  not  be  imagined  that  there 
was  any  lack  of  warmth.  Allied  with  that 
splendid  appreciation  of  flowing  lines  was 
an  intense  love  of  homely  colour.  Just  as 
the  Roman  itched  to  cover  a  vacant  space 


go  CEILINGS 

with  ornamentation,  so  the  men  of  medie- 
val days  and  their  successors  applied  colour 
as    they    would    drapery — a    comfortable 
thing,  adding  completeness  and  emphasis 
ing  beauties. 

Broadly  speaking,  in  medieval  Europe 
open  timbered  roofs  were  succeedec 
by  groined  stone,  then  by  arched 
ribbed  roofs  followed  by  flat  wooden 
ceilings.  In  every  case  colour  was  applied 
with  an  unfaltering  hand.  The  huge 
beams  and  lesser  timbers,  whether  carved 
or  merely  roughly  shaped  with  rebated 
edges  and  perhaps  flutings,  were  painted 
and  gilded,  while  the  spaces  between 
were  filled  either  with  plain  boards 
or  pierced  panels,  occasionally  both 
carved  and  pierced.  Here  again  colour 
was  used.  Primary,  secondary  and 
even  tertiary  colours  are  employed,  but 
they  are  bright  of  their  kind.  The  greys, 
browns  and  half  tones  belong  to  the 
period  of  decadence,  the  perpendicular, 
when  Gothic  had  lost  its  curvilinear  spring, 
and  had  hardened  into  a  matter  of  horizon- 
tal and  vertical  lines,  decorated  with  orna- 
ments that  appear  to  be  stuck  on,  not  to 


Cornice,   Bishop  Beekington's   Shrine,  Wells  Cathedral. 


Groined  Ceiling,  St.  Alban's  Abbey 


»    »    •  »    >  > »    • 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS  91 

grow  out  of  it.  In  the  earlier  days  colour 
was  applied  in  masses,  white  or  blue, 
picked  out  with  bright  tints,  enriched  with 
gold;  or  more  elaborate  colour  schemes 
were  adopted,  in  which  sprigs  of  flowers 
appear  on  the  plain  background.  At 
other  times  bold  contrasts  were  sought  and 
with  a  success  in  effect  that  fully  justified 
the  daring.  Thus  we  see  a  curious 
combination  of  black,  white  and  red;  or 
elsewhere  bright  red  rafters  standing  out 
from  the  bright  blue  on  the  filling  boards, 
powdered  with  golden  stars.  These 
stars  may,  as  at  St  Mary's  and 
Bury  St  Edmunds,  even  have  small 
mirrors  let  in  their  centres,  to  give  the 
twinkling  effect  in  sun  or  artificial  light. 
Barber  poling,  the  placing  of  narrow  bands 
of  colour,  usually  black  and  white,  white 
and  green,  or  red  and  white,  side  by  side  is 
a  favourite  method  of  decoration  either  on 
the  lean-to  roofs  of  the  aisles  or 
winding  spirally  round  timbers,  such 
as  rafters,  braces  and  so  on.  A 
forcing  of  the  colour  note  by  contrasts 
of  vivid  colours  and  lavish  enrichment  with 
gold  was  the  rule  over  the  chancel  and 


92  CEILINGS 

altar.  Gold,  or  its  substitute  yellow,  was 
employed  as  a  harmonising  medium,  link- 
ing up  colours  and  parts,  though  also  to 
give  greater  prominence  to  niceties  of 
decoration. 

Almost  the  same  procedure  was  pursued 
when  dealing  with  groined  stone  vaults  and 
ribbed  roofs.     Not  only  were  the  bosses, 
pendants     and     carvings     painted,     the 
background  was  coloured  and  high  relief 
work    gilded.       On    that    curious    boss 
from  Rouen  Cathedral  are  traces  of  green 
and  red  paint  with  touches  of  gold.     Even 
the  ribs  and  soffits  of  arches,  however,  were 
painted  in  no  stinted  manner,  for  it  is  her 
that  we  see  contrasts  even  more  startlin 
than    in    the   blue    roof   with    red    rafte 
mentioned  above.     There  was  a  cunnin 
jugglery  to  effect  contrast  without  allow- 
ing one  colour  to  predominate  over  another, 
and  so  mouldings  of  green,  red,  blue  and 
white   jostle    one    another   without    hurt 
intervening  yellow  fillets  smoothing  the 
whole  scheme. 

In  the  boarded  ceilings,  often  found  in 
combination  with  open  timber  work — 
painting  became  more  elaborate.     Floral 


1 


GOTHIC   CEILINGS  93 

designs  were  carried  out  with  much  detail. 
Here  and  there  figures  were  introduced, 
generally  angels  or  cherubs. 

Some  of  these  colour'  schemes  are  so 
daring  that  they  must  be  recorded  here. 
In  the  Clopton  Chantry  in  Long  Melford 
Church,  the  space  between  the  rafters  was 
painted  blue,  decorated  with  gilt  lead 
wavy  stars.  The  rafters  are  painted  red, 
with  scrolls  bearing  the  prayer:  "  Jhu 
mercy  and  granmercy."  The  cornice  is 
a  most  elaborate  form  of  barber  poling  in 
red  and  gold,  the  red  beading  having  a 
leafy  spiral  in  gold.  Between  the  feet  of 
the  rafters  shields  bearing  the  Clopton 
arms  impaled  with  their  alliances  were 
shown.  The  upper  cornice  as  Bishop 
Beckington's  shrine  in  Wells  Cathedral 
is  extremely  lavish.  The  top  rounded 
moulding  is  barber  poled  white  and  black ; 
a  red  fillet  in  red,  incavo  black;  a  broad 
flat  band  top  half  white  and  bottom  gold ; 
a  round  fillet  red,  barber  poling  in  gold 
and  black;  a  round  fillet,  a  white  fillet, 
a  broad  flat  band  in  blue  carved  with  vine 
leaves  and  grapes,  gilded;  flat  band 
barber  poled  white   and  gold;  flat  band 


94  CEILINGS 


red,  cavetto  painted  green  with  carved 
gold  leaves;  a  broad  rounded  moulding 
with  undulating  pattern  the  top  white  and 
the  lower  red ;  blue  round  fillet  and  finally 
a  gold  rounded  fillet.  Another  striking 
combination  was  that  at  Palgrave  Church 
Suffolk,  where  the  background  of  the  roof 
was  red,  the  rafters  white  with  crosses 
and  fern  leaves  in  blue.  The  purlins 
were  V  shaped,  the  sides  being  striped 
black  and  white,  while  a  thin  line  of  red 
ran  along  the  apex  and  bases. 

Diapering    was    a    favourite   device    in 
Gothic   architecture,    consisting  of   small 
repeat  patterns  either  carved  (in  stone  o: 
wood)   or  merely  painted.     The  word  i 
supposed  to  come  from  Ypres,  to  represent 
those  square  and  running  patterns  seen  on 
damask  cloth.     Of  course,  the  method  is 
very   much  older  than  the  word  or  th 
special  weaving  carried  on  at  Ypres.     I 
the  main  the  colour  scheme  was  to  plac 
gold  and  silver  (or  yellow  and  white)  on 
colour,    and    colour    on    gold    or    silver 
These  medieval  colourists,  however,  were 
good     heraldists,     and     recognised     that 
diapering  should  be  subordinated  to  th 


:: 


GOTHIC  CEILINGS  95 

main  decoration,  and  when  this  was  so, 
and  the  diaper  consisted  of  small  figures, 
they  often  placed  gold  on  white, 
brown  or  pink  on  red,  light  blue  or  black 
on  blue.  A  curious  treatment  of  white  or 
silver  was  to  make  the  diapering  stand  out 
pure  by,  etching  the  background  with 
minute  broken  lines  and  dots.  A  good 
example  of  this  can  be  seen  on  the  diapered 
shields  decorating  the  tomb  of  William  of 
Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke  (1296)  in 
St  Edmund's  Chapel,  Westminster 
Abbey.  Another  heraldic  practice  of  the 
decorative  painters  was  counter-changing, 
that  is,  having  one  panel  black  with  white 
designs,  and  the  next  white  with  black 
designs.  Both  red  and  blue,  and  red  and 
green,  were  often  counter-changed  in  this 
way,  generally  with  a  little  gold  to 
emphasise  details. 

Coming  now  to  domestic  architecture, 
we  find  a  far  greater  and  more  persistent 
clinging  to  timber  construction.  Apart 
from  the  big  castles,  groined  and  ribbed 
ceilings  were  rare,  except  in  crypts.  Open 
timber  work  characterised  most  of  the 
large  chambers,  boards  filling  in  spaces 


96 


CEILINGS 


between  the  massive  beams.  Later, 
boarded  ceilings  became  the  rule  in  impor- 
tant houses,  the  beams  being  mostly 
concealed. 

A  good  example  of  this  open  timber 
and  boarded  work  is  seen  in  a  thirteenth 
century  grange  at  Swanborough,  belong- 
ing to  Lewes  Priory.  Its  roof  is  composed 
of  arched  timbers,  while  the  horizontal 
supports  of  the  rafters  are  moulded,  the 
spaces  between  the  arched  ribs  being  filled 
with  carved  boards.  The  rafter  Wc 
plates  are  battlemented. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  RENAISSANCE 

Obscured  though  it  had  long  been  by  the 
conflicting  Gothic  and  Byzantine  influ- 
ences, still  traditions  of  classic  architecture 
lingered  in  Central  and  Southern  Italy. 
When,  therefore,  with  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century  there  came  about  a 
revival  in  learning,  men  turned  eagerly  to 
the  Greek  and  Latin  authors;  they  also 
showed  an  enthusiastic  interest  in  such 
monuments  of  the  Augustan  age  as  time 
had  left  them.  So  in  Italy  the  Renais- 
sance in  literature  was  cceval  with  a 
revived  appreciation  of  Greco-Roman  art. 
Outside  of  the  peninsula,  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  twin  phases  of  this  great  move- 
ment should  have  advanced  at  a  very 
different  rate.  Each  fresh  discovery  of  an 
author  was  quickly  heralded  abroad,  by 
means  of  letters  and  copies,  for  there  was 
a  liberal  exchange  of  treasures  and  criti- 
97  G 


98  CEILINGS 

cisms  between  literati  of  all  nations.  Such 
a  rapid  diffusion  of  knowledge  of  classic 
architecture  and  decoration  was  not  such 
an  easy  matter.  To  understand  an  author 
required  merely  the  exercise  of  an  intellec- 
tual effort,  but  in  order  to  appreciate 
fragments  of  an  almost  lost  body  of  art, 
actual  inspection  was  necessary.  So  while 
in  Italy  the  close  scrutiny  and  measure- 
ment of  Roman  temples  and  baths,  the  too 
eager  collection  of  statuary,  pottery, 
mosaics  and  other  fragments  prompted 
definite  study  of  old  writers  dealing  with 
such  subjects,  and  quickened  a  desire  to 
imitate  those  wonders  of  a  past  age, 
foreigners  had  to  wait  and  see.  Hence  the 
progress  of  Renaissance  in  art  was  slow, 
for  interchange  by  travel  was  then  very 
slow,  even  on  the  Continent.  As  for  us, 
who  were  scarcely  in  touch  with  Italy  until 
some  three  hundred  years  later,  Renais- 
sance architecture  and  decoration  came  to 
our  shores  only  after  a  long  delay  and  by 
devious  ways.  Indeed,  the  inspiration 
came  to  us  in  a  succession  of  waves  at 
irregular  intervals  and  of  unequal  force, 
often  curiously  at  variance  with  the  actual 


THE  RENAISSANCE  99 

condition  of  affairs  at  the  centre  of  the 
movement. 

In  Italy,  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  all  was  propitious  for  a  great 
change.  Puissant  prelates,  emulous  courts 
and  no  less  magnificent  princes  of  com- 
merce had  long  patronised  art  in  no 
niggardly  spirit.  This  revival  of  classic 
learning  found  artists  and  patrons  alike 
adequately  equipped  for  a  task  both  diffi- 
cult and  alluring.  That  keen  sense  of 
proportion  which  marked  the  best  work  of 
the  Greek  and  Roman  master-builders  was 
adopted  with  such  modifications  as  the 
requirements  of  the  day  suggested.  On 
the  rules  appertaining  to  the  five  orders, 
as  deduced  from  ancient  writers  and  exist- 
ing edifices,  a  neo-classicism  was  erected, 
which,  in  the  hands  of  the  early  ardent 
masters,  produced  great  things,  though 
destined  to  degenerate  into  fetishism.  For 
even  at  its  best,  the  Renaissance  in 
architecture  was  an  artificial  thing,  and 
therefore,  carried  within  itself  the  seeds  of 
early  decay.  What  Ruskin  said  was  cruel 
truth,  neo-classicism  conducted  men's  in- 
ventive and  constructive  faculties  from  the 


ioo  CEILINGS 

Grand  Canal  to  Gower  Street,  and  those 
who  remember  Gower  Street  a  decade  or 
so  ago,  will  realise  how  deadly  the 
criticism.  At  its  best  the  Renaissance 
taught  thoroughness,  a  love  of  bold  lines 
treated  with  constraint,  and  made  gay  with 
an  abundance  of  decoration  growing  out  of 
the  parent  idea  and  forming  an  organic 
whole  with  the  building. 

Raphael  and  his  compeers  found  the 
Roman  buildings  lavishly  decorated  witl 
a  wonderful  array  of  ornaments  painted , 
carved,  moulded  and  incrusted ;  an  orna- 
mentation founded  either  upon  pun 
geometry  or  on  a  curious  blend  of  conven- 
tionalised natural  forms,  naturalistic 
representations,  and  the  weird  children  oi 
a  cosmopolitan  mythology.  All  of  thii 
was  very  rich,  much  of  it  decidedly  grace- 
ful, and  the  whole  satisfying  to  those  whc 
looked  upon  the  surface  treatment  as 
essential  part  of  right  designing  and  con- 
struction. They  dipped  deeply  into  this 
source  of  inspiration,  at  times  copying 
boldly,  but,  generally  speaking,  spurred 
on  to  inventions  of  their  own.  We  see  this 
work  in  its  most  luxuriant  form  in  the 


N-^>/ 


J 


*r" 


\im  .i  -J" 

Portico  Ceiling.   Farnesina  Palace,   Rome.     Raphael. 


$1 


■  7rwif^; 


. 


[iip 


Painted   Plaster  Ceiling.     Richardson 


•  •••, 


*.    ,      .  .      « 


THE  RENAISSANCE  101 

decoration  of  the  loggia  at  the  Vatican, 
carried  out  or  inspired  by  Raphael,  and  in 
what  remains  to  us  of  the  grandeur  that 
once  clothed  the  Villa  Madama. 

The  loggias  are  a  series  of  galleries, 
once  open  but  now  enclosed  with  glass, 
surrounding  the  Cortile  di  San  Damaso. 
The  whole  surface  of  the  inner  walls,  the 
pillars  overlooking  the  court,  and  the 
lofty  series  of  vaults  between  each  couple 
of  columns,  are  covered  with  one  mass  of 
decoration,  forming  a  framework  to  the 
ceiling  panels,  painted  by  Raphael  and  his 
pupils,  with  scenes  from  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  Much  of  the  decoration  con- 
sists of  what  is  known  as  arabesques,  that 
quaint  mixture  of  subjects  mentioned 
above,  united  by  series  of  flowing  scrolls, 
mostly  bearing  buds  and  scanty  leaf 
forms.  The  so-called  Vitruvian  scroll, 
consisting  of  a  florid  spiral  scroll,  now 
curling  inward  to  form  an  ever-narrowing 
circle,  now  shooting  upwards  en  vrilles, 
like  the  spirally  twisted  tendrils  of  a  vine, 
were  introduced ;  and,  as  with  their  proto- 
types, these  often  imprison  animal  or 
human  forms  or  heads,  which  sometimes 


io2  CEILINGS 

actually  unite  with  the  semi-vegetable 
scrolls.  Apart  from  these  grotesques 
there  is  an  endless  wealth  of  flowers  and 
fruits  and  vegetables,  birds,  beasts,  and 
fishes,  and  human  figures  singly  or 
grouped.  One  of  the  vaults  presents  that 
favourite  subject  for  artists  of  that  sunny 
clime — a  vine-covered  trellis  work.  The 
diamond-shaped  framework  is  just  visible 
under  a  load  of  vine  leaves  and  grapes, 
opening  up  overhead  into  great  gaps, 
through  which,  as  it  were,  we  see  the  vivid 
scriptural  pictures.  It  is  noticeable, 
however,  that  in  most  cases,  as  the  ceiling 
itself  is  approached,  the  decoration  be- 
comes closely  symbolical,  figures  and 
ornamentation  having  a  direct  bearing  on 
the  pictures  filling  the  series  of  four 
panels.  This  elaborate  decoration  is 
carried  out  in  slightly  raised  stucco,  care- 
fully painted.  It  is  due  to  Giovanni  da 
Udine  who  worked  under  the  guidance  of 
Raphael ;  but  the  second  middle  loggia  is 
by  the  great  master  himself.  Here,  as  in 
practically  all  the  work  of  the  Cinque- 
cento  pure  colours  are  used,  with  a  view 
to  produce  a  light  pleasing  effect. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  103 

At  the  Villa  Madama,  which  was  also 
planned  and  embellished  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Raphael,  the  same  lavishness  was 
shown,  not  an  inch  of  the  inner  walls 
being  left  uncovered  either  by  sculpture, 
painting,  or  the  painted  raised  stucco 
arabesques. 

A  remarkable  peculiarity  of  this  Renais- 
sance decorative  work  in  its  hey-day  is 
that  the  very  sense  of  proportion,  which  the 
architect  made  his  ruling  law,  was  curi- 
ously neglected.  In  the  ancient  decoration 
as  found  in  the  so-called  baths  of  Titus, 
the  Domus  Aurea,  and  later  on  in  the 
ruins  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum,  in 
spite  of  fantastic  forms,  every  part  was 
considered  in  relation  to  the  whole.  This 
is  not  so  with  the  neo-classic  style.  We 
find  the  large  and  small  constantly  mixed, 
and  a  tendency  to  encourage  fantastic  con- 
ceptions, with  the  introduction  of  the 
incongruous.  This  fatal  facility  for  run- 
ning mad  was  kept  within  bounds  by  the 
geniuses  who  initiated  the  movement  and 
their  capable  immediate  disciples,  all  of 
whom,  working  much  in  churches, 
ecclesiastical  buildings,  and  royal  apart- 


104  CEILINGS 

ments,  were  largely  inspired  by  that 
honoured  handmaiden  of  art — symbolism. 
This  disregard  of  proportion  in  decorative 
detail  is  all  the  more  peculiar  inasmuch  as 
Palladio  insisted  on  exact  observance  of 
proportion  in  architecture.  Serlio,  too,  is 
very  definite  in  this  matter,  prescribing 
small  designs  with  few  details  in  low  relief 
for  the  ceilings  of  small  low  rooms,  painted 
in  monochrome  (in  which  opinion  he 
differed  from  his  betters)  while  demanding 
more  elaborate  designs  in  high  relief  for 
high  and  spacious  rooms.  He  prefers  two 
colours  only ;  or,  if  many  are  used,  blue  to 
act  as  a  foil.  But  he  is  eager  for  rich 
cornices.  As  the  influence  of  the  Cin- 
quecento  receded,  exuberance  got  out  of 
bounds,  leading  to  overloading  and  accen- 
tuation of  eccentricity.  While  the 
ancients  and  cinquecentists  showed  us 
plants  blossoming  forth  with  human 
heads,  or  animal  forms  sinking  into  plants, 
introducing  judiciously  symbolical  masks 
from  store-house  of  the  drama,  the  later 
men  gave  us  human  heads  hanging  by  the 
hair  and  all  manner  of  wonderful  little 
gems  stuck  on  walls,  jostling  other  details 


THE  RENAISSANCE  105 

without  rhyme  or  reason.  It  degenerated 
into  a  rage  for  putting  as  much  work  as 
possible  into  the  legitimate  task  of  cover- 
ing surfaces.  This  led  to  the  heavy  over- 
loading of  the  Louis  XIV.  style.  The 
Romans  had  used  a  delightful  idea  of 
decorating  certain  baths  and  fountains 
with  rocks,  fishes,  shells  and  other  aquatic 
forms,  and  Raphael  adopted  this  with 
happy  results  in  one  of  his  rooms  in  the 
Villa  Madama.  Inspired  with  this  and  the 
rustic  style,  the  mere  imitators  fell  into 
mannerism,  and  produced  the  rocaille 
style  of  Louis  XV.,  in  which  scrolls  and 
foliage  twined  over  rocks  and  shells.  This 
speedily  developed  into  that  exaggeration 
known  as  the  rococo,  in  which  we  see  a 
profusion  and  confusion  of  scrolls,  foliage, 
rock  work  and  animal  forms,  the  product 
of  mental  indigestion. 

This  striving  after  richness  of  effect  and 
singularity  in  the  choice  of  subjects  came 
at  quite  an  early  date.  We  find  evidence 
of  this  all  over  Italy.  Even  the  glories  of 
Sansovino  in  Venice  are  often  cumbered 
by  over  emphasis  of  detail,  by  overload- 
ing generally,   leading  to  many  strange 


106  CEILINGS 

aberrations  of  his  successors.  Certainly 
some  of  the  most  magnificent  ceilings  ever 
conceived  were  to  be  seen  in  the  ducal 
palace  and  the  library  of  San  Marco.  But 
for  all  their  beautiful  purity  of  colouring, 
wealth  of  gilding  and  exquisite  execution 
they  are  often  far  from  happy  taken  as  a 
whole.  One  of  Sansovino's  masterpieces 
in  the  Palace  is  the  Golden  Staircase,  a 
grandly  proportioned  work  on  which 
ornamentation  was  bestowed  with  a  lavish- 
ness  thoroughly  symbolical  of  that  love  of 
display  shown  by  the  representatives  of 
the  proud  Republic.  The  vaulted  ceiling 
is  a  fitting  enough  crowning  to  the  wonders 
of  the  balustrade  and  walls.  In  its  prime 
it  was  a  shimmering  mass  of  gold  and 
dainty  tints — like  a  rainbow  imprisoned  in 
gossamer  goldsmith  and  filigree  work — 
covering  every  inch  of  the  stucco  mould- 
ings, carried  out  with  superb  craftsman- 
ship by  Alessandro  Vittoria.  The 
elaborately  foliated  stucco  mouldings 
framed  a  series  of  square  and  octagonal 
panels  joined  by  boldly  sculptured  bands, 
each  compartment  filled  in  with  painted 
decoration    from    the    brush    of    Battista 


THE  RENAISSANCE  107 

Franco.  It  is  an  arresting  vision  seen 
from  a  distance,  mounting  or  descending, 
but  looked  at  closely,  it  is  far  too  oppres- 
sive with  its  too  bold  moulding,  its 
fatiguing  detail  laid  upon  detail.  The 
same  is  true  of  that  other  vaulted  ceiling 
by  the  same  trio  in  St  Mark's  Library. 
There  the  twenty  squares  and  octagons  are 
joined  together  by  sculptured  bands,  the 
splendid  framings  enclosing  little  gems 
from  the  brushes  of  Salviati,  Zellatti, 
Battista  Franco,  Schiavone,  Giovanni  de 
Milo,  Guilio  Licino,  and  greatest  of  all, 
Paul  Veronese,  the  spaces  between  each 
panel  being  covered  with  charming  tracery. 
Everything  is  a  miracle  of  beauty  by 
itself;  seen  as  a  whole  the  ceiling  lacks 
unity ;  it  is  a  collection  of  fragments ; 
seemingly  too  heavy  for  its  position; 
wearisome  to  contemplate.  The  truth  is, 
the  design  was  a  faulty  translation  of  the 
deeply  elliptical  ceilings  of  ancient  Rome. 
But  while  the  classic  coffers  or  lakes  give 
the  impression  of  being  structurally  com- 
prehensible, even  necessary,  their  moulded 
sides  as  natural  as  the  flowered  knot  in  the 
centre,  the  coves  being  of  regular  size  and 


108  CEILINGS 

separated  merely  by  their  mouldings,  the 
Renaissance  imitators  forgot  all  idea  of  fit- 
ness, and  merely  built  up  the  coves  with 
exaggerated  carved  framework,  because 
they  desired  to  pile  on  embellishments. 
They  were  gilding  the  lily,  painting  the 
rose,  not  allowing  the  lily  to  unfold  its  own 
ivory  calyx,  the  rose  to  uncurl  its  glowing 
petals.  Therein  lay  the  canker  of  the 
Renaissance  :  it  was  not  a  form  born  of 
necessity;  it  was  a  mannerism.  So  with 
other  ceilings  within  these  two  celebrated 
buildings  :  grandly  moulded  and  carved 
stucci  frame  many  immortal  paintings  by 
the  great  masters.  But  it  is  heavy  and 
wearisome.  Elsewhere  it  became  oppres- 
sive, not  only  by  reason  of  mere  weight  of 
tortured  stucco,  but  because  of  the  lurid 
glimpses  of  unreason  shown  in  th 
elaboration  of  the  arabesques. 

Crossing  the  frontiers  into  France 
find  that  the  Renaissance  quickly  received 
recognition  from  the  great,  though  it  was 
slow  in  making  general  headway  under 
Henry  IV.  and  Louis  XIII.  In  the  suc- 
ceeding reign,  however,  the  style  was  in 
full  force,  and  we  see  its  influence  at  the 


i 


THE    RENAISSANCE         109 

Louvre  and  Versailles.  In  Gallic  hands 
the  Renaissance  style  lost  some  of  its 
licentiousness  (indeed,  there  was  far  less 
gauloiseries  in  this  period  than  under 
Gothic  sway) ,  but  both  ponderosity  and  in- 
congruity increased.  It  was  quite  as 
exuberant  as,  but  less  imaginative  than 
the  Italian.  In  fact,  it  was  merely  imita- 
tive, an  imitation  of  an  imitation,  and  only 
later  gave  scope  for  creative  efforts.  The 
rigid,  vertical  and  horizontal  lines  of  the 
main  architecture  were  nullified  by  over- 
balancing of  ornamentation.  This  is  par- 
ticularly noticeable  in  much  of  the  ceiling 
work,  where  the  cornices  are  extraor- 
dinarily massive,  deeply  moulded,  and 
even  under-cut,  and  are  duplicated  round 
the  ceiling  itself,  these  borders  being  con- 
nected with  heavy  central  panellings  by 
means  of  bands  or  scrolls.  Bastard  heroic 
painting  also  came  into  fashion,  the  stodgy 
stucco  framing  pictures  in  which  we  see 
battles  amidst  the  clouds  and  the 
apotheosis  of  portentous  patrons  wearing 
full-bottomed  wigs  and  Roman  costume,  or 
the  no  less  unethereal  dress  of  the  period. 
Garlands  were  much  in  vogue,  but  as  they 


no  CEILINGS 

were  reduced  in  length  they  grew  in  bulk, 
so  that  the  swags  of  this  period  are  semi- 
circles of  plaited  fruits,  flowers  and  leaves, 
tapering  at  the  ends  and  swelling  inordi- 
nately in  the  middle.  These  paunchy 
collections  of  vegetable  matter,  weighing 
half  a  hundredweight  or  so,  are  carelessly 
fastened  overhead  to  nothing  at  all  by  the 
flimsiest  of  ribbon  bows,  conveying  a  sense 
of  insecurity  that  is  hardly  reposeful. 
Cornucopias  also  swell  out  into  Brobding- 
nagian  proportions,  are  fantastically 
curled,  and  let  out  a  veritable  flood  of  the 
good  things  vouchsafed  not  merely  by 
Ceres,  Pomona  and  Flora,  but  even  by 
Diana  and  Neptune,  for  game  and  fish 
hang  threateningly  overhead.  With  Louis 
Quinze  and  Louis  Seize  a  lighter  vein  was 
struck.  There  was  a  considerable  amount 
of  delicate  scroll  plaster  mouldings  and  flat 
paintings,  light  colours,  white  and  gold, 
betraying  the  influence  of  Watteau.  This 
same  comic  operetta  champestre  sentiment, 
however,  also  suggested  the  rustic  rocaille 
style,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  degenerated 
into  the  rococo  with  all  its  absurd  medley, 
inappropriateness  and  ostentatious  enrich 


THE  RENAISSANCE         in 

ment  of  commonplace  objects.  The 
Empire  style  in  its  early  stages  shows  the 
influence  of  the  Republican  return  to  the 
simplicity  of  pre- Augustan  Rome.  It  is 
the  day  of  a  rather  emasculated  classicism, 
of  straight  lines,  moderate  curves,  reduced 
embellishments,  and  low  relief  in  model- 
ling and  sculpture.  The  heavy  garlands 
and  swags  are  replaced  by  narrow  bands  of 
foliage — oak,  occasionally,  but  more 
generally  bay  leaves,  olive  branches, 
myrtle — neatly  worked  into  compact 
masses,  the  leaves  placed  in  regular  lines, 
with  sparse  admission  of  acorns,  olives,  or 
tiny  blooms — giving  the  opportunity  for 
light  touches  of  colour  and  gilding,  the 
whole  bound  about  by  narrow  ribbons 
winding  spirally  and  crossing  each  other. 
The  long  palm  leaf  replaces  the  spreading 
acanthus.  For  ceiling  decoration  the  style 
lent  itself  well,  so  long  as  restraint  was 
shown.  The  colouring,  while  also  mode- 
rate in  tone,  had  lost  the  purity  of  the 
early  Renaissance.  The  red  was  no  longer 
frankly  that  of  the  pomegranate,  but  of 
terra-cotta ;  the  pink  no  longer  that  of  the 
rose-leaf,  but  of  dusky  cream;  the  green 


ii2  CEILINGS 

no  longer  that  of  the  laurel,  but  of  the 
cypress  and  olive ;  the  blues,  too,  are  milky 
or  inky.  Monochrome  began  its  reign; 
that  monochrome  introduced  in  Italy  by 
weaklings,  who  followed  the  brave  Cin- 
quecento  days,  who  blinked  at  the  glow  in 
which  the  sun  of  Raphael  and  his  school 
was  setting.  Later,  however,  a  more 
robust  rendering  of  the  classic  idea  in 
architecture  and  decoration  prevailed,  with 
a  judicious  bending  to  local  needs  and 
shedding  of  overloading,  This  acclima- 
tised classicism  rules  to  this  day  prac- 
tically over  a  good  third  of  Europe  , 
perhaps  not  always  with  the  best  results, 
but  often  enough  with  some  dignity,  pur- 
posefulness,  and  happy  effects.  Ai 
example  of  a  latter-day  French  classi< 
ceiling,  devoid  of  the  Renaissance  arabes- 
que oppression,  is  given  in  plate.  It 
represents  the  ceilings  on  the  first  flooi 
of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  of  Tours,  built  fr 
Victor  Laloux  in  the  early  years  of  this 
century.  The  large  coved  square  is  at  the 
rear  of  the  building  and  placed  over  th( 
well  of  the  grand  staircase.  The  long 
strip  of  deeply  covered  ceiling  is  over  a 


■ 


THE  RENAISSANCE         113 

corridor,  and  here  M.  Laloux  has  made  an 
effective  break  to  connect  the  staircase 
dome  with  the  sumptuous  decoration  of  the 
reception  room.  To  the  right  is  the 
Council  Chamber,  to  the  left  the  Salle  des 
Marriages,  each  provided  with  a  suitable 
vestibule,  deeply  coved  and  leading  respec- 
tively to  a  Committee  Room  and  the 
Mayor's  Parlour.  The  four  squares  and 
two  ovals  outside  the  coffered  corridor  are 
over  minor  offices.  Although  somewhat 
heavy  in  certain  details,  especially  in  the 
Salle  des  Fetes,  it  is  a  well-conceived  ceil- 
ing plan,  dignified,  and  providing  diversity 
with  a  unity  worth  of  a  painstaking  artist. 
One  of  the  results  of  the  Renaissance  has 
been  that  on  the  Continent,  especially  in 
France  and  Italy,  it  is  recognised  that  a 
flat  ceiling  if  it  cannot  be  adorned  with 
moulded  plaster  work,  at  least  cannot  be 
left  bare.  Ceilings  are  almost  always  not 
only  colour  washed  but  decorated  with  more 
or  less  ambitious  work  of  the  painter. 
Much  of  this  is  of  the  flimsiest  quality, 
often  marked  by  bad  taste.  It  may  be 
right  enough  for  the  ceilings  of  sleeping 
apartments  to  be  festooned  with  curtains 

H 


ii4  CEILINGS 

painted  in  grisaille,  looped  up  by  pink  or 
green  ribbons,  but  it  is  rather  disconcert- 
ing when  these  same  ribbons  are  made  to 
support  heavy  baskets  brimming  over  with 
flowers  the  like  of  which  no  mundane 
garden  has  ever  seen,  or  fruit  suggesting 
dyspepsia.  Peeping  amorini  have  ousted 
the  elder  Romans,  they  are,  however 
usually  quite  as  much  unaccountably  lop- 
sided and  odd-jointed.  There  is  this  much 
to  be  said  for  the  modern  Continental 
decorators  :  they  paint  pictures  on  walls, 
and  reserve  their  ceilings  for  genuine 
decorative  treatment. 


CHAPTER    VII 

RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND 

Our  first  glimpse  of  Renaissance  art  we 
owe  to  Italianised  ecclesiastics.  Traces  of 
their  influence,  chiefly  in  the  way  of  wood 
carvings,  are  to  be  found  associated  with 
the  reigns  of  Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIII. 
Indeed,  the  latter,  before  he  broke  with 
Rome,  delighted  to  call  foreign  artists  to 
his  Court.  Soon,  however,  politico- 
religious  causes  made  intercourse  with 
the  politer  parts  of  Europe  well-nigh 
impossible,  a  state  of  affairs  that  lasted 
for  many  years.  While,  therefore, 
traces  of  the  classic  style  are  to  be 
seen  at  this  period  curiously  mingling 
with  the  Gothic,  they  are  few  and 
slight.  Times  were  out  of  joint,  and 
were  scarcely  more  propitious  under  the 
youthful  Edward  and  later  his  gloomy 
sister,  Mary.  With  Elizabeth  on  the 
"5 


u6  CEILINGS 

throne,  clouds  rolled  by,  once  more  the 
Tudor  sun  in  splendour  shone  forth  on  a 
freely  breathing,  eagerly  enterprising 
people.  There  was  a  brave  show,  much 
spending  of  monies  by  Courtiers  in  honour 
of  their  Peerless  Mistress,  while  an 
emulation  for  connoisseurship  in  art 
became  fashionable.  We  had  begun  even 
under  bluff,  but  erudite  King  Hal  to 
exploit  a  particular  vein  of  native  litera 
ture  and  art,  under  his  daughter  whil 
this  was  fostered,  we  also  sought  some  o 
our  learning  in  perusing  French  render- 
ings of  the  classics,  and  derived  some  of 
our  art  ideas  from  the  Flemings  and 
Dutch.  Now,  the  Renaissance  came  slow 
footed  to  the  Low  Country,  deprived  of 
some  of  the  brightness,  of  some  of  th 
wayward  naughtiness  as  regards  decora- 
tion, slightly  coarsened  by  its  passage 
through  Germany.  In  the  Low  Country 
it  was  a  matter  of  adaptation  rather  than 
of  adoption,  and  when  it  was  imported 
thence  to  our  shores  the  formalism  of 
classic  lines  had  been  softened,  rounded, 
made  somewhat  more  homely  by  a  fruit- 
ful union  with  the  Burgundian  Gothic  of 


>f 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    117 

those  regions.  It  shaped  the  Eliza- 
bethan, and  mnch  more  the  Jacobean 
style,  in  which  the  Gothic  and  Classic  are 
made  to  blend  with  a  brick  and  mortar 
symbolisation  of  a  new  era,  ushering  in 
the  rise  of  the  yeomanry  and  petty  gentry, 
above  all  of  the  merchant  classes.  Feudal- 
ism was  departing,  and  a  novel  sense  of 
ease  dawning.  It  was  the  age  of  the 
comfortable  Manor  Houses  and  solid,  not 
unhandsome  town  dwellings  of  the  success- 
ful men  of  commerce.  Often  timber 
roofing  gave  place  to  boarded  ceiling, 
carved  wood  ceilings,  and  those  character- 
istic plaster  ceilings,  seen  at  their  best 
under  the  last  of  the  Tudors  and  the  first 
of  the  Stuarts. 

During  this  period,  if  decoration 
included  classic  lines  and  geometrical 
designs,  the  feeling  expressed  was  native. 
We  have  squares,  octagons  and  diamonds 
and  scrolling,  all  common  enough  on  the 
Continent,  but  with  us  the  arrangement  of 
pattern,  the  strap- work,  and  more  particu- 
larly the  marked  introduction  of  heraldic 
devices — whether  we  have  full  coats  of 
arms,  or  badges,  crests,  mottoes,  cris-de- 


n8  CEILINGS 

gruerre — was  thoroughly  English.  Even 
Celtic  knotwork  was  acclimatised  by  being 
broadened,  made  more  open  and  less  in- 
volved, and  almost  invariably  (though  not 
always)  deprived  of  those  queer  terminals, 
the  reptilian  claws  and  tails  caught  in 
elongated  half  bird-like,  half  snake-like 
jaws,  which  was  so  distinctive  a  feature  of 
the  whole  school  of  knotwork,  represented 
by  Runic  cross  carvings  and  the  illumina- 
tions of  the  "  Book  of  Kells  M  and  other 
manuscripts. 

With  the  advent  of  the  Stuarts  travel 
became  more  easy  to  Englishmen,  and 
once  more  direct  communication  with  Italy 
was  opened  up.  While  James  was  a 
pedant,  he  was  a  discriminating  Maecenas. 
He  was  not  slow  in  appreciating  the  genius 
of  Inigo  Jones,  the  former  carpenter 
apprentice,  whom  William,  third  Earl 
of  Pembroke  had  sent  to  Italy  in  order  to 
perfect  his  skill  as  a  designer  and  to  give 
play  to  his  innate  taste  for  ornate  garden- 
ing. Jones  had  made  the  best  use  of  his 
opportunities  while  travelling  about  the 
peninsula  and  specially  the  facilities  that 
his  entree  at  the  Vatican  afforded  him. 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    119 

We  can  still  study  his  small  quarto  sketch- 
book filled  with  minute  notes  and  pen  and 
ink    drawings,    showing   how   closely    he 
studied  the  work  of  the  classic  period  and 
the  revival.     At  the  Court  of  James  as 
designer  of  scenery  and  machinery  for  Ben 
Johnson's    masques,    no    doubt    he    had 
opportunities  of  displaying  his  admiration 
for  Palladio  and  his  whole-hearted  adher- 
ence to  severe  laws  of  proportion.     That 
ordered  style  with  its  suggestion  of  power 
and  majesty  appealed  to  James,  who  made 
his  protege  first  Surveyor  to  Prince  Henry 
and  then  Surveyor  General  of  Works.     In 
both  capacities  he  did  much  worthy  service 
restoring  and   adding  to  Royal   Palaces. 
His  most  ambitious  task  was  the  drawing 
up  of  plans  for  the  total  reconstruction  of 
Whitehall  Palace  in  the  classic  style,  but 
the  only  part  he  actually  carried  out  was 
the  Banqueting  Hall,  which  later  became 
a  Royal  Chapel,  and  is  now  the  United 
Service  Institute  Museum.     Greatly  criti- 
cised as  this  has  been,  it  is  only  fair  to 
remember  that  what  we  have  is  merely  a 
fragment  of  a  huge  Palace,  with  long  water 
and  garden  fronts  and  seven  great  courts. 


120  CEILINGS 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  this  as  in  other 
pieces  of  his  work,   Inigo  Jones  showed 
himself  in  the  matter  of  main  design  a 
student  of  pure  Greek  forms,  careful  of 
proportions,     restrained     in     decoration, 
except   where   sculptural    pediments    and 
statuary    are    concerned,    but    betrays    a 
predilection   for  the   middle   Renaissance 
period  in  the  matter  of  internal  decoration. 
This  is  particularly  noticeable  in  his  treat- 
ment   of    ceilings.      In    his    friezes    the 
acanthus  is  developed  moderately,  garlands 
are  long  and  slim,  not  paunchy  swags,  and 
the  masks  are  those  of  Attic  Tragedy  and 
Comedy,  not  the  fantastic  grotesque  of  the 
post  Raphael  period.     On  the  other  hand 
his  ceilings  are  generally  coved  and  cor- 
ridors barrel  vaulted.     He  dispenses  with 
deep  coffers  and  uses  flat  surfaces  broken 
up  into  squares,  oblong  and  oval  panels  by 
means  of  broad,  flat  moulded  bands,  orna- 
mented with  rather  open  running  plaited 
device.     In  his  design  for  the  Whitehall 
Chapel    we    see    a    coved    ceiling    with 
shallow    coffers    ornamented    alternately 
with     quatrefoils     and     cherubs,     while 
at     the     angles     garlands     of    oak     run 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    121 

up  a  flat  band.  The  frieze  is  com- 
posed of  oak  garlands  held  up  by 
leopard's  masks.  Jones  made  good  use  of 
both  military  and  heraldic  symbols,  but 
generally  on  his  friezes  in  preference  to  the 
ceilings.  The  large  flat  ceiling  of  the 
Banqueting  Hall  is  divided  into  nine  panels 
by  broad  bands  adorned  with  the  open 
plait.  There  are  seven  oblong  and  two 
square  panels.  The  middle  and  largest 
panel  contains  a  great  oval,  formed  by  a 
frame  with  the  plaited  device.  The  inner 
edges  of  the  panels  are  decorated  with  a 
bead  device.  These  panels  were  specially 
devised  to  frame  paintings  and  are  filled 
with  canvases  by  Rubens.  In  another 
typical  example,  designed  for  the  King's 
House  at  Greenwich,  Jones  had  a  rather 
deeply  coved  ceiling  with  large  circular 
framed  panel,  surrounded  by  four  oblongs 
and  four  small  circles.  Here  again  the  flat 
surface  on  the  bands  was  adorned  with  a 
running  open  plait  design,  while  the 
bevelled  edges  bore  beading  and  plain 
voluted  wave  forms,  the  latter  in  happy 
deference  to  the  naval  character  of  this 
Royal  seat.     Work  very  similar  in  style 


122  CEILINGS 


by  him  is  to  be  seen  at  Rainham,  Coleshill, 
Ford  Abbey  and  elsewhere.  He  used  his 
plaster  in  rather  heavy  masses,  but  put  on 
the  decoration  in  continuous  patterns, 
treating  the  moulded  plaster  to  form  impos- 
ing frames  to  pictures,  not  as  complete 
works  in  themselves,  thus  differing  from 
the  early  Renaissance  plasterers  of  this 
country.  As  a  result  of  this  and  the  repeat 
type  of  patterns,  sculpturing  in  situ  as  in 
early  periods  gave  way  to  the  practice  of 
moulding  the  bands  and  corner  devices, 
which  were  afterwards  fixed  in  position,  a 
method  also  adopted  in  dealing  wit 
cornices  and  friezes.  Both  in  architectu 
and  decoration  Inigo  Jones'  influence  w 
very  great  and  lasting,  but  with  the  excep 
tion  of  his  son-in-law  disciple,  John  Webb, 
few  worked  on  so  solid  a  basis  of  study  and 
with  the  ability  to  express  sturdy  individu 
ality  within  strictly  defined  lines.  Aft 
him  the  deadly  tendency  to  formalism 
asserted  itself.  Architect  and  decorator 
appear  constantly  at  variance,  exaggerated 
and  inappropriate  ornamentation  ofte 
accentuating  commonplace  and  fault 
design. 


a 

■ 

p- 

id 

: 

_ 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    123 

This  decadence,  however,  was  arrested 
for  a  time  at  first  by  a  reversion  under 
Puritan  rule  during  the  Commonwealth  to 
modified  forms  of  Gothic  and  Jacobean,  with 
all  attempts  at  decoration  kept  severely 
in  abeyance,  and  then  by  the  accuracy 
and  taste  of  Christopher  Wren.  Both  by 
temperament  and  training  as  a  mathema- 
tician Wren's  natural  leanings  were 
strongly  in  favour  of  classical  revival  in 
architecture.  Circumstances  having  early 
thrown  him  in  the  way  of  putting  up 
public  buildings  he  soon  showed  what  an 
ardent  adherent  he  was  of  classic  style  in 
all  its  purity.  At  the  same  time  he  was 
no  slavish  imitator  of  Palladio  and  the 
other  Italians,  boldly  daring  to  differ  from 
Vitruvius  himself  when  circumstances 
justified  departure  from  prescribed  rules, 
as  St  Paul's  Cathedral  bears  witness.  As 
a  decorator  he  was  far  more  florid  than 
Inigo  Jones,  which  is  clearly  seen  in  his 
deep,  bold  friezes  and  imposing  ceilings. 
He  had  a  love  for  the  foliated  scroll  work 
of  the  early  Renaissance  workers.  He 
usually  employed  heavy  plaster  or  carved 
wood  framing  above  the  cornice  and  round 


i24  CEILINGS 

his  panels.    This  work  is  assertive,  filling 
up  a  good  deal  of  space,  strongly  modelled  ; 
even  his  plaster  work  is  so  deeply  undercut 
as  to  suggest  the  carver,  rather  than  the 
modeller.     Wren's  taste  was  pure,  how- 
ever, and  never  led  him  to  use  grotesques. 
Even  his  arabesques  are  few,   his   acan- 
thuses,   foliated    scroll   work,    and    floral 
forms      although      conventionalised      are 
clearly  based  on  nature,  and  we  do  not  find 
him  blending  purely  constructionaKmotives 
with  floral  growths.     Consequently  there 
is  a  freedom  in  the  flowing  character  of  his 
decorations  that  prove  a  pleasant  corrective 
to  the  rigidity  of  vertical  and  horizonta 
lines,  varied  by  formal  arch  curves,  of  th 
building  ornamented.     By  way  of  outlin 
ing  his  heavy  framework,  he  was  fond  o 
using  the  rounded,  rope-like  garlands  of 
bay  leaves,  twined  round  with  ribbons,  bu 
though  these  are  formal  enough,  the  leaves 
are  so  strongly  moulded  that  the  design  i 
quite  graceful. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Grinling 
Gibbons  worked  under  Sir  Christopher, 
and  his  carved  woodwork  has  all  the 
characteristics  of  the  great  architect's  love 


4 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    125 

of  emphasis  in  decorative  detail,  and  much 
of  the  middle  period  of  Italian  Renaissance 
exuberance.  Gibbons  appears  to  have 
worked  much  from  nature,  but  he  and  his 
compeers  introduce  the  conventional  often 
effectively,  often,  too,  with  the  result  of 
suggesting  heaviness.  The  cornucopia 
and  long-beaded  anthers  in  cup-shaped 
flowers  are  apt  to  be  repeated  with  fatal 
facility  by  this  school. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  that  after  Inigo 
Jones  the  knack  of  blended  heraldic  sym- 
bols (not  only  the  more  difficult  full  coat  of 
arms,  but  even  the  most  adaptable  of 
devices)  with  floral  and  formal  decorative 
motives,  possessed  in  so  high  a  degree  by 
the  Gothic  and  early  Renaissance  artists, 
appears  to  have  been  lost.  Certainly 
heraldry  was  employed  lavishly  enough  by 
later  decorators,  but  not  happily.  There 
is  always  a  note  of  incongruity  about  it 
which  betrays  a  curious  poverty  of  inven- 
tion when  we  contrast  the  later  with  the 
earlier  work. 

William  Kent,  who  is  perhaps  the  next 
most  conspicuous  figure  in  our  branch  of 
art,  was  a  capable  decorator,  a  common- 


i26  CEILINGS 

place  architect,  and  an  altogether  inferior 
painter  of  genre.     Yet  he  probably  painted 
more  ceilings  with  inflated  allegorical  and 
historical  subjects  in  this  country  than  any 
other  man  with  the  exception  of  Verrio 
and  Laguerre.     As  a  designer  he  had  con- 
siderable    invention,     though     decidedly 
tainted  by  exaggeration  and  lack  of  taste. 
We  may  take  a  specimen  ceiling  which  he 
gives  in  his  own  book,  a  ceiling  which  he 
designed  for  a  private  house  (fig.  b).     Il 
will  be  seen  that  the  large  oval  is  sur- 
rounded by  heavy,  rather  heterogeneous 
decoration,  in  which  children's  heads  and 
peacocks  are  jumbled  wih  floral  arabes- 
ques.     If    we   compare   this   with    Inigo 
Jones'    Greenwich    ceiling    (fig.    a)    th( 
decadence  is  all  too  obvious.     Some  vei 
characteristic  work  of  his  is  to  be  seen  at 
Kensington  Palace.    The  plaster  is  heav; 
and    lacks    sharpness    of    outline.      Th< 
design    is    generally    involved.     In    th< 
Presence  Chamber  we  have  a  coved  plastei 
ceiling  by  Wren,  but  decorated  by  aral 
esques  in  bright  reds,  blues  and  gold  by 
Kent.  Perhaps  his  most  startling  perform- 
ance is  the  Cube  room,  which  he  both 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    127 

built  and  decorated.  It  has  a  coved  ceiling 
with  a  flat  top  decorated  with  a  huge  star  of 
the  Garter.  The  coves  are  covered  with 
octagon  panels  enclosing  a  large  flower, 
and  with  flowers  painted  between  the 
panels.  At  the  angles  are  broad  bands 
with  erect  full  figures  of  nude  boys  and 
garlands  running  up  to  the  flat  panel. 
Above  a  strongly  projecting  moulded 
cornice  is  a  heavy  rope  of  bay  leaves  bound 
with  ribbons  and  looking  like  an  unwieldy 
snake.  The  frieze  consists  of  voluted 
wave  forms.  A  garish  blue  and  a  profu- 
sion of  gilding  accentuates  the  heaviness  in 
an  unpleasant  way.  It  is  but  fair  to  say 
that  this  ceiling  has  been  restored,  so  the 
assertive  tone  of  the  blue  may  not  be  the 
choice  of  Kent.  At  Lord  Burlington's 
Chiswick  house,  Kent  carried  out  a  very 
similar  combination  ;  his  octagonal  hall  had 
a  vaulted  ceiling,  with  deep  coffers  and 
heavy  ornamentation,  the  whole  vividly 
coloured,  but  with  full-bodied  pigments, 
not  the  pure  tints  that  gave  lightness  even 
to  coarse  work  of  the  early  masters. 

A  further  downward  step  is  noticeable 
with  the  work  of  the  brothers  Adam,  who 


i28  CEILINGS 

came  within  measurable  distance  of  the 
brick  box  with  cheap  stereotyped  classical 
ornamentation  stuck  on  in  the  manner  and 
style  of  pink  and  white  cake  decoration. 
Like  Jones,  Wren  and  Kent  they  preached 
the  necessity  of  treating  walls,  doors 
chimneypieces,  ceilings  and  even  furniture 
decoratively  in  harmony  with  the  architec- 
tural scheme  of  the  building  or  room.  The 
pity  was  that  in  attempting  to  adopt  the 
classic  style  to  the  economical  needs  of  the 
day,  they  degenerated  into  mechanical 
namby-pamby  ism.  In  their  ceiling  work 
they  lightened  the  panels,  employing 
Zucchi  and  others  to  adopt  Grecian  designs 
to  modern  conditions.  The  designs  are 
simplified,  or  so  arranged  as  to  be  easily 
moulded  in  their  patent  stucco,  which  could 
be  prepared  in  the  studio  and  placed  in 
position  to  advantage.  Sworn  enemies  to 
the  glare  of  white,  of  the  bold  work  of  Jones 
and  Wren,  they  adopted  genteel  tints  (of 
the  milky  and  chocolate  cream  order)  and 
nice  line  and  scroll  work.  In  a  few  words  : 
it  was  all  devoid  of  strength  and  sincerity. 
The  spirit  in  which  decoration  was 
approached  at  this  period  is  well  shown  by 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    129 

Sir  William  Chambers,  Surveyor  General 
to  George  III.,  who,  writing  of  Italian 
practice,  really  cites  the  work  of  the  third 
or  fourth  stage  of  Renaissance  decadence. 
He  says  :  ' '  The  usual  method  is  to  gild  all 
the  ornaments  and  to  leave  the  ground 
white,  pearl,  straw  colour,  light  blue  or 
any  other  tint  proper  to  set  off  the  gilding 
and  ornaments  to  best  advantage,  but  I 
have  frequently  seen  that  practice  reversed 
with  more  success,  by  gilding  the  ground 
and  leaving  the  foliage  white,  parti- 
coloured or  streaked  with  gold . '  *  Practices 
these,  which  the  warm-blooded  Italians  of 
the  Cinquecento  and  earlier  period  would 
have  regarded  with  disdain. 

Richardson's  large  folio  with  coloured 
plates  proves  to  what  a  deplorable  artistic 
level,  decoration  had  descended  by  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Most 
of  the  plates  represent  ceilings  designed  by 
Richardson  and  executed  by  the  plaster 
moulder,  Rose.  In  the  Court  Room  of 
the  Drapers'  Company  the  ceiling  is  in  low 
relief  plaster.  There  are  three  medallions 
and  we  have  paintings  representing 
Minerva   introducing  the   Arts   to   Com- 

I 


i3o  CEILINGS 

merce,  occupying  the  central  panel,  while 
figures  emblematic  of  spinning  and  weav- 
ing fill  the  other  two.  The  design  and 
execution  are  poor,  and  the  decorative 
filling  between  the  panels  is  feeble.  As 
the  Company's  armorial  supporters  are 
lions,  and  their  crest  a  lamb,  these  beasts 
are  introduced  in  smaller  circles.  But 
there  is  no  feeling  for  heraldic  art,  and, 
indeed,  the  lion  looks  like  an  overfed  sheep, 
while  the  lamb  appears  considerably 
fiercer  than  the  King  of  the  forest,  which 
is  the  mark  of  heraldic  painting  of  that 
date.  The  ceiling  in  the  banqueting 
chamber  though  rather  overloaded  with 
detail  is  in  better  taste.  In  the  middle, 
Apollo  is  shown  seated  in  his  chariot. 
Round  this  is  a  circle  with  figures  repre- 
senting the  four  seasons,  and  outside  this 
another  with  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac. 
The  whole  of  this  occupies  a  central  panel. 
On  either  side  are  three  circles,  the  outer 
four  containing  figures  of  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe,  and  the  middle  ones  emble- 
matic figures  of  Britannia  and  London. 
The  figures  are  in  stucco  from  designs  by 
Joseph    Nollekens,    carried   out   by    Rose 


RENAISSANCE  IN  ENGLAND    131 

and  Collins.  Another  plate  represents  a 
design  for  an  arched  ceiling,  which 
Richardson  describes  thus  :  "  The  eight 
pictures  in  the  oblong  panels  are  represen- 
tative of  the  funeral  games  instituted  by 
Achilles,  in  honour  of  Patrocles  :  the 
Chariot  Race,  the  Fight  of  the  Ccestus,  the 
Wrestling,  the  Foot  Race,  the  Single  Com- 
bat, the  Discus,  the  shooting  with  arrows, 
and  darting  the  Javelin,  as  described  in 
Homer's  Iliad.  The  three  circular  pic- 
tures exhibit  Achilles  offering  a  libation  at 
the  departure  of  Patrocles  for  his  success 
and  safe  return  from  the  field  of  battle. 
Thetis  hearing  the  lamentations  of  her 
son,  for  the  loss  of  Patrocles,  comes  with 
her  Nymphs  to  comfort  him,  and  to  funeral 
fear.  In  the  four  smaller  circles  are 
emblematical  representations  of  Honour, 
Immortality,  Magnanimity,  and  heroic 
Virtue."  A  much  better  conception  was 
the  ceiling  of  the  Grecian  Hall  at  Kedle- 
ston,  the  seat  of  Lord  Scarsdale.  Richard- 
son says  :  "  As  there  are  a  great  many 
paintings  in  chiaroscuro  from  the 
antique  and  from  Homer's  Iliad,  on  the 
walls  of  the  Hall,  it  was  judged  improper 


132 


CEILINGS 


to  introduce  any  historical  pictures  in  the 
ceiling;  Grecian  trophies  of  stucco  are 
therefore  adopted,  as  proper  accompani- 
ments to  the  pictures  in  the  Hall."  The 
stucco  decorations  were  by  Rose.  In  all 
these  ceilings  by  Richardson  the  colours 
are  poor  :  we  have  pale  greenish  blue 
borders,  creams,  pale  mauve  and  pink, 
while  the  paintings  are  carried  out  in  very 
high  colours,  which  gives  quite  a  "  penny 
plain  and  twopence  coloured  ' )  impressioi 


CHAPTER  VIII 

TIMBER  ROOFS  AND  CARVED  WOOD 
CEILINGS 

Timber  ceilings  may  be  divided  into  three 
broad  classes  :  (i)  open  timber  roofs,  such 
as  we  see  in  churches  and  large  halls ;  (2) 
ceilings  with  visible  beams  in  conjunction 
with  boarded  or  plastered  surfaces;  (3) 
boarded  ceilings,  plain  or  decorated  and 
those  of  carved  wood. 

The  simplest  form  of  timber  roof  and 
ceiling  is  composed  of  a  series  of  rafters 
resting  on  the  top  of  the  walls,  or  sup- 
ported by  one  or  more  long  principal 
beams  running  the  whole  length  of  the 
room,  upon  which  a  platform  of  boards  or 
laths  is  placed  to  sustain  the  tiles  or  thatch 
of  the  roof  proper,  or  the  floor  above.  Of 
the  development  of  this  fundamental  type 
we  shall  speak  later. 
133 


i34  CEILINGS 

A  roof  of  the  above  description  enters 
into  the  structure  of  a  building  as  an  inte- 
gral part  of  it,  but  in  a  framed  roof  we  have 
a  carpenter's  job,  which  is  practically  a 
complete  structure  by  itself,   resting  on 
and  fastened  to  the  walls.     These  framed 
roofs  embrace  that  whole  wonderful  series 
of  open-timbered  structures  associated  with 
Gothic  architecture.     Into  the  composition 
of  these  a  large  variety  of  members  enter. 
The  chief  of  these  are  the  principals,  or 
cross  beams  supporting  the  longitudinal 
rafters  and  purlins,  on  which  boards  or 
smaller  beams  are  placed  to  support  the 
outer  shell,  the  ridge  pole,  generally  sup- 
ported by  a  truss  or  perpendicular  beam, 
which  are  in  turn  supported  by  wall  beams 
and  plates,  running  down  the  side  of  the 
walls. 

The  tie-beam  roofs  are  associated  with 
the  Norman,  Early  English,  Decorated 
and  Perpendicular  styles.  The  beam  is 
either  laid  across  the  building  from  wall  to 
wall  (as  in  the  primitive  type),  or  more 
usually  is  supported  by  curved  braces, 
connecting  it  with  wall  pieces.  Over  the 
Trinity  Chapel  in  Cirencester  Church,  the 


c 

o 

■OJ3 

O 
I 

«ob 

C 


TIMBER   ROOFS  135 

tie  beams  are  supported  by  curved  braces, 
resting  on  small  carved  square  pillars, 
which  replace  wall  pieces  and  are  not 
attached  to  the  wall,  but  spring  from 
carved  Seraphims  forming  the  capitals  of 
pillars  reaching  to  the  ground.  In  other 
cases  the  braces  are  continued  above  the  tie 
beam,  and  then  form  an  arch  intersected 
by  the  tie  beam.  Sometimes  the  tie  beams 
of  the  aisles  are  carried  through  the  walls 
to  form  corbels  for  the  wall  pieces  and 
braces  of  the  nave  roof.  As  a  rule  tie-beam 
roofs  of  the  Perpendicular  period  are  very 
low-pitched,  even  approaching  to  flatness, 
in  which  case  the  timbering  is  reduced  to 
the  minimum,  but  the  decoration  is  exceed- 
ingly elaborate. 

A  trussed  roof  has  all  the  complicated 
appearance  of  the  tie-beam  type,  but  has 
the  advantage  of  using  smaller,  and 
especially  shorter  timber.  In  this  class  of 
roof  the  common  rafters  are  prevented 
from  spreading  by  diagonal  ties  (the 
braces) ;  all  timbers  are  halved  and  pinned 
together  with  wooden  pins.  Both  purlins 
and  rafters  are  used,  as  well  as  curved 
braces.      Sometimes    the    roof    is    high- 


136  CEILINGS 

pitched,  in  later  work,  especially  in  the 
Perpendicular,  almost  flat.  In  any  case 
the  effect  produced  is  a  forest  of  timber 
overhead. 

In  arched-braced  roofs,  curved  braces 
support  the  collar  or  cross  beams  between 
the  purlins,  in  place  of  the  tie  beams. 

In  collar-braced  roofs,  the  collar  beams 
or  merely  the  wall  pieces,  and  principals 
are  connected  by  straight  or  curved  braces. 

With  hammerbeam  roofs  we  have  again 
a  forest  of  timber,  the  hammerbeams  being 
balks  projecting  from  the  wall  and  sup- 
porting the  rafters  by  means  of  arched 
braces.  These  arched  braces  generally 
support  cross  beams ;  on  which  rest 
perpendicular  beams  reaching  to  the  ridge 
(king  post).  Sometimes  the  tie  beams 
have  three  perpendicular  beams,  in  which 
case  the  middle  and  larger  one  is  the  king 
post  and  the  shorter  beams  on  either  side, 
springing  from  the  collar  or  tie  beam  and 
reaching  to  the  purlins  (the  queen  posts). 
In  double  hammerbeam  roofs  we  have  one 
row  of  projecting  beams  above  the  other. 

In  connection  with  the  intricate  and  very 
often  delicate  carpenter's  work  involved  in 


TIMBER   ROOFS  137 

all  this  knitting  together  of  long  and  short, 
light  and  heavy  timbers,  with  struts  and 
braces,  tenon  dovetailed,  or  pinned, 
elaborate  decoration  was  the  rule.  We 
have  cambered  tie  beams,  where  the  under- 
side of  great  balks  are  cut  away  to  give  an 
arched  appearance;  the  edges  of  squared 
beams  are  cut  off  or  rounded;  fillets  and 
deep  broad  grooves  are  cut  along  them,  and 
these  grooves  are  sometimes  filled  with 
strings  of  beads  or  of  billets,  or  with  a 
running  pattern  of  foliage  cut  out  of  the 
solid  wood.  Great  floral  or  foliated  bosses 
are  also  frequently  seen,  conventionalised 
in  the  earlier  periods  and  more  approach- 
ing naturalistic  treatment  as  the  Perpen- 
dicular is  reached.  Beams  as  they 
approach  the  walls  may  be  decorated  with 
flowers  or  leaves,  or  more  or  less  roughly 
carved  into  the  semblance  of  heads  of 
beasts  with  open  mouths,  the  latter  a  form 
frequently  seen  in  domestic  architecture. 
In  churches  we  also  see  heads  of  birds, 
beasts  and  humans,  grotesques  or  other- 
wise, but  here  the  favourite  motive  is  the 
chubby  face  and  short  wings  of  cherubs, 
which  are  also  used  as  bosses  in  the  middle 


138  CEILINGS 

of  beams  over  the  nave.  Hammerbeams 
are  frequently  carved  in  the  form  of  full 
or  half-length  angels,  seeming  to  float 
horizontally  overhead.  Angels  in  the 
perpendicular  or  standing  position  are 
also  seen  on  braces  and  tie  beams,  some- 
times carved  out  of  the  solid  timbers,  at 
others  being  separate  carvings  fixed  in 
place.  They  bear  trumpets,  cymbals, 
scrolls  inscribed  with  texts,  or  armorial 
shields.  Bowden,  speaking  of  Trinity 
Chapel,  Cirencester  Church,  says 
11  Every  part  of  this  roof  susceptible  o 
enrichment  has  received  it  to  the  highest 
degree;  the  tie  beams  are  well  moulded, 
with  a  deep  casement  filled  in  with  flowers 
carved  out  of  the  solid;  most  elaborately 
carved  bosses  cover  the  intersections  of  the 
mouldings.  One  very  peculiar  feature  in 
this  roof,  which  is  not  often  met  with  in 
other  examples,  is  the  pendant  which 
terminates  the  upright  supports  under  the 
purlins  and  ridge."  Floral  pendants  are, 
however,  not  uncommon.  The  wall  pieces 
are  also  a  constant  object  of  decoration. 
They  may  be  angels  springing  from  archi- 
tectural corbels,  or  beams  wreathed  about 


i 


TIMBER   ROOFS  139 

by  creepers.  The  corbels  themselves  may 
be  purely  architectural  forms,  branches  of 
leaves,  or  heads.  In  domestic  architec- 
ture the  face  of  the  corbel  may  bear  a 
shield  displaying  initials,  badges,  crests  or 
arms.  The  wall  pieces  are  frequently 
connected  by  wall  plates,  forming  a 
continuous  band,  treated  now  as  a  cornice 
with  many  mouldings,  now  as  a  frieze 
highly  decorated  with  carvings  or  paint- 
ings, and,  especially  in  domestic  examples, 
usually  terminating  in  an  embattled  top. 

With  all  this  dealing  in  huge  balks  and 
a  multiplicity  of  smaller  timbers,  the  old 
carving  and  minute  sculpturesque  detail, 
the  decorative  sense  of  the  medieval 
builders  and  their  immediate  successors 
was  not  satisfied.  The  notion  of  leaving 
oak  and  other  woods  bare  never  entered 
their  heads.  They  used  colour  with  happy 
abandon  already  described  when  dealing 
with  Gothic  decoration,  but  as  an  example 
of  how  colour  carving  and  intricate 
carpentry  were  blended  we  may  cite 
Knapton  Church,  Norfolk.  It  is  a  double 
hammerbeam  roof,  with  rather  restrained 
carving ;  each  horizontal  timber,  however, 


i4o  CEILINGS 

is  adorned  with  an  angel  holding  a  shield. 
The  wall  beams  are  carved  effigies  of 
Scriptural  personages  supported  by  corbels 
composed  of  angels  also  bearing  shields. 
The  wall  plate  above  the  cornice  is  adorned 
with  a  double  row  of  angels  holding 
emblems  of  the  Passion  and  other  sacred 
symbols.  The  colouring  on  the  timbers 
and  the  background  of  boards  was  mainly 
a  rich  yellow,  with  decorations  in  red,  green 
and  white.  The  colouring  of  the  figures 
is  somewhat  unconventional,  at  all  events 
as  regards  our  ideas  of  angelic  appearance  : 
they  have  golden  hair,  green  or  red  robes, 
while  their  outspread  wings  are  painted  red 
or  green  in  reverse  order  to  the  robes.  A 
pretty  enough  contrast,  though  rather  sug- 
gestive of  parrakeets  to  the  unregenerat* 
mind. 

Three  fine  types  of  domestic  timber* 
roofs  are  to  be  seen  respectively  in  West- 
minster Hall,  Crosby  Place,  and  Hampton 
Court. 

Westminster  Hall,  which  formed  part  of 
the  old  Palace  of  the  Saxon  kings  and  of 
William  of  Normandy,  was  rebuilt  in 
early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 


TIMBER  ROOFS  141 

have  the  splendid  open-timber  roof  to-day 
practically  as  it  was  pnt  np  under  Richard 
II.  It  is  really  a  composite  roof,  a  combina- 
tion of  the  hammerbeam,  arched  brace  and 
collar  beam,  with  king  and  queen  posts 
and  numerous  upright  struts.  Along  the 
sides  of  the  walls  are  stone  corbels,  from 
these  spring  double  braces  of  considerable 
scantling,  the  under  one  being  curved  and 
carried  to  the  end  of  the  hammerbeam. 
These  hammerbeams  project  far  into  the 
Hall,  and  are  carved  in  the  shape  of  angels 
bearing  shields  adorned  alternately  with 
the  arms  of  Edward  the  Confessor  and 
Richard  II.  The  upper  part  of  the  double 
beam  is  carried  skyward,  intersecting  the 
hammerbeam  and  curving  outward  to  meet 
the  brace  from  the  opposite  wall,  forming 
an  arch,  queen  posts  from  the  head  of  the 
hammerbeam  acting  as  struts.  A  brace  is 
carried  from  the  base  of  the  queen  post  to 
the  centre  of  the  arch.  The  queen  posts 
are  carried  right  up  to  the  purlins,  and 
from  purlin  to  purlin  right  across  the  Hall 
is  the  collar  beam,  with  king  and  queen 
posts  supporting  a  tie  beam  above.  The 
space  between  the  arched  braces  and  beams 


i42  CEILINGS 


k.s\  s\  ■•'*-%  r* 


is  filled  with  perpendicular  curved  beams. 
Thus  we  have  another  arch  within  an  arch 
as  well  as  triangles.  From  brace  to  brace, 
over  the  roof  beams  are  purlins  supported 
by  arched  braces,  the  whole  great  struc- 
ture being  knit  together  into  one  perfect 
structure.  The  magnitude  of  this  work 
will  be  realised  when  we  find  that  the  Hall 
is  239  feet  long  and  66  feet  broad,  while 
from  the  floor  to  the  ridge  is  a  distance  of 
90  feet,  from  the  floor  to  the  corbels,  21 
feet,  and  to  the  angels,  42  feet.  The 
depth  of  the  roof  itself  is  48  feet.  Sydney 
Smirke,  who  inspected  the  roof  closely  in 
the  early  decades  of  last  century,  classes  it 
as  a  common  collar-beam  roof.  He  says  : 
■ '  A  brace  of  very  great  strength  has  been 
made  in  every  truss  to  relieve  the  principal 
rafter,  by  catching  it  at  about  two-fifths  of 
the  height  upwards,  and  carrying  down 
the  pressure  nearly  ten  feet  below  the  foot 
of  the  rafter."  He  adds  that  the  arch 
formed  by  the  great  curved  rib  (or  continu- 
ation of  the  hammerbeam  brace)  does  not 
sustain  the  pressure  of  the  roof,  for  as  a 
matter  of  fact  its  base  in  many  cases  did 
not  rest  on  the  stone  corbels  at  the  date  of 


Kna^ton  Church.   Norfolk. 


•  » »     > 


Portico.  Villa  Madonna.   Rome.     Raphael. 


TIMBER  ROOFS  143 

his  inspection,  from  which  it  appears  to, 
and  no  doubt  originally  did  spring.  The 
arch,  therefore,  rather  hangs  from  than 
supports  the  principals,  though,  of  course, 
it  is  of  use  in  knitting  the  whole  together. 
This  roof,  which  Thomas  Fuller  speaks  of 
as  a  forest  of  cobwebless  timber,  in  allu- 
sion to  the  legend  that  it  was  built  of  Irish 
oak,  among  which  no  insects  would  live, 
is  said  to  have  been  a  replica,  on  a  larger 
but  simplified  plan,  of  that  over  the 
adjoining  St  Stephen's  Chapel,  which  was 
destroyed  by  fire. 

Crosby  Place,  which  Sir  John  Crosby 
erected  in  Bishopsgate  as  his  town  resi- 
dence in  the  third  quarter  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  was  originally  a  very  extensive 
building,  but  had  suffered  severely  long 
before  it  was  pulled  down  and  re-erected 
at  Chelsea.  It  possessed  a  large  crypt  with 
fine  groined  ceiling.  The  lofty  Great  Hall 
has  a  slightly  vaulted  ceiling,  with  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  moderately  heavy 
timber  work,  which,  however,  comes  little 
below  the  vaulting,  to  the  top  of  the 
windows,  placed  high  up  in  the  walls. 
Between  the  purlins  and  rafters  are  closely 


i44  CEILINGS 


fitted  boards.  Down  the  whole  length  of 
the  Hall  are  three  rows  of  king  posts,  each 
terminated  by  short  pendants,  slightly 
carved.  Braces  form  the  two  small  middle 
arches,  springing  from  the  king  posts, 
with  a  half  arch  on  each  side  braced  to  the 
wall  posts,  which  are  supported  by  small 
corbels,  the  open  space  between  the  top  of 
the  braces  and  the  rafters  being  filled  in 
with  small  vertical  beams.  In  this  way  a 
series  of  bays  are  formed  right  down  the 
Hall.  Another  chamber  of  interest  in  this 
old  mansion  is  the  Throne  Room,  with  its 
elliptical  ceiling  divided  into  Small  com- 
partments by  slender  ribs  of  oak,  filled  in 
with  panels,  all  finely  carved.  A  combina- 
tion of  the  two  styles,  with  considerable 
modifications,  may  be  found  in  the  big 
Hall  at  Hatfield.  " 

Hampton  Court  Palace  also  affords  a  fine 
specimen  of  domestic  Pothic  roof.  This  is 
seen  in  the  Great  Hall  built  by  Henry 
VIII.,  in  the  perpendicular  style.  It  is  a 
single  hammerbeam  roof  of  seven  bays. 
Substantial  purlins  are  carried  right  down 
the  Hall.  The  bays  are  formed  by  two 
half    arches    supporting   a    large    central 


TIMBER  ROOFS  145 

arch ;  above  this  the  same  arrangement  is 
repeated  on  a  smaller  scale,  the  open  parts 
being  filled  with  pierced  tracery.  Each 
half  arch  is  composed  of  a  wall  post  resting 
on  a  carved  corbel,  from  which  springs  a 
curved  hammer  brace,  supporting  the  ham- 
merbeam,  which  juts  out  horizontally  from 
the  wall  post.  Each  central  arch  is  formed 
by  curved  collar  braces,  descending  from 
the  rafters  above  and  meeting  the  hammer- 
beams  and  braces  below.  At  these  junc- 
tions are  magnificently  carved  pendants, 
composed  of  pillars,  pediments,  floral  and 
heraldic  enrichments,  all  pierced  a  jour. 
These  pendants  are  particularly  worthy  of 
study,  owing  to  their  evidence  of  Renais- 
sance influence,  the  architectural  features 
being  classic.  Above  each  central  arch  is 
a  horizontal  collar  beam,  supporting  open 
timber,  and  scroll  work  filling  the  upper 
parts.  The  corbels  are  adorned  with 
heraldic  devices — supporters  and  coats  of 
arms,  and  we  also  see  heads  carved  in 
wood.  Spandrels  of  elegant  form  fill  up 
the  space  between  the  arches,  enclosing 
bosses  carved  and  emblazoned  in  colours 
with  the  arms  and  badges  of  Henry  and 

K 


-11, 

£ 


146  CEILINGS 

Jane  Seymour.  It  is  certainly  a  magnifi- 
cent production,  superior  to  the  ceilings  of 
both  Crosby  Hall  and  Eltham  Palace,  and 
comparable  in  its  own  way  with  that 
marvel  of  carpentry  work — the  timber  roof 
of  Westminster  Hall. 

While  in  most  timber  roofs  the  ceiling 
of  boards  may  be  said  to  be  behind  the 
timbers,  resting  on  the  purlins  and  rafters 
and  forming  a  platform  for  the  outer  shell, 
the  boarded  ceiling  is  placed  in  front 
the  beams  and  rafters,  hiding  them  co 
pletely.  We  find  instances  of  this  practice 
at  a  fairly  early  date.  The  boarded  ceiling 
may  be  flat,  slanting  (over  aisles  for 
instance),  or  shaped  as  a  vault  either  in 
the  form  of  a  half  sphere,  or  with  poly- 
gonal sides.  A  good  example  of  this  is 
the  ceiling  of  the  church  at  Wimbsbottem, 
Norfolk.  The  boards  are  frequently 
decorated  with  carved  beading  concealing 
the  joining  of  the  boards,  and  with  wood 
or  metal  bosses.  For  instance,  a  rather 
favourite  combination  is  blue-painted 
boards  studded  with  leaden  or  golden  stars. 
Colour  decoration  on  these  boarded  ceil- 
ings   was    decidedly    lavish,     quite    the 


TIMBER  ROOFS  147 

opposite  to  the  modern  practice  of  merely 
varnishing  the  natural  wood,  and  perhaps 
adding  a  stencilled  border  in  monochrome 
or  pale  tints. 

In  the  ' '  Parentalia  ' '  we  find  a  long  quo- 
tation from  Dr  Plot  who  describes  and 
eulogises  Sir  Christopher  Wren's  flat  tim- 
ber ceiling  over  the  Sheldonian  Theatre, 
Oxford.  This  was  Wren's  second  archi- 
tectural venture,  and  the  task  he  set  him- 
self was  to  devise  a  flat  ceiling  for  a  great 
expanse,  only  using  small  timbers.  He 
devised  a  huge  framework,  enclosing  a 
perfect  network  of  short  and  long  beams, 
arranged  like  a  grating,  each  piece  ten- 
oned into  the  other.  It  is  the  outcome  of 
elaborate  mathematical  calculations.  This 
work,  however,  is  all  concealed.  Dr  Plot, 
describing  the  decoration,  adds:  "The 
painting  of  the  ceiling  is  worth  examina- 
tion ;  for  in  imitation  of  the  Theatre  of 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  which  were 
too  large  to  be  covered  with  lead  or  tile, 
this,  by  the  purity  of  the  flat  roof  within 
is  represented  open .  And  as  they  stretched 
a  cordage  from  pilaster  to  pilaster,  upon 
which  they  strained  a  covering  of  cloth,  to 


148  CEILINGS 


protect  the  people  from  the  injuries  of  the 
weather,  so  here  is  a  cord  moulding, 
gilded,  that  reaches  cross  and  cross  house 
both  in  length  and  breadth,  which  supports 
a  great  drapery  supposed  to  have  covered 
the  roof,  but  furled  up  by  the  genii  round 
about  the  house  toward  the  walls,  which 
discovereth  the  open  air,  and  maketh  way 
for  the  descent  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences 
that  are  congregated  in  a  circle  of  clouds." 
From  Elmes,  who  reproduces  the  plan  and 
details  of  the  timber  ceiling,  to  be  found, 
both  in  Dr  Plot's  work  and  the  "  Paren- 
talia/'  we  learn  that  the  moulded  cords 
were  of  carved  wood,  and  were  only  place 
there  as  realistic  ornaments. 

Flat  boarded  ceilings  gave  rise  to 
system  which  practically  continued  wall 
panelling  overhead.  Such  ceilings  often 
have  panels  of  different  sizes  and  shapes, 
either  deep  sunken  or  raised,  and  outlined 
by  more  or  less  elaborate  mouldings.  The 
decoration,  which  may  be  conventional, 
geometrical  or  largely  heraldic,  is  some- 
times carved  in  the  solid  wood,  or  is 
applied,  being  carved  in  wood  or  more 
generally  moulded  in  lead,  in  composition 


.5 

: 


TIMBER  ROOFS  149 

or  plaster.  Charming  specimens  of  wood 
panels,  lead  and  composition-moulded 
decorations  are  to  be  seen  in  the  ceilings  of 
Wolsey's  portion  of  Hampton  Court, 
which  show  the  foreshadowing  of  later  all- 
plaster  work. 

Serlio  in  his  treatise  describes  and  por- 
trays certain  flat  carved  timber  ceilings 
which  he  designed  for  the  Library  of  St 
Mark,  Venice.  It  is  particularly  worth 
study,  because,  apart  from  the  merits  of 
the  design,  it  gives  a  capital  demonstration 
of  how  decoration  and  method  may  be 
adapted  to  fit  in  with  particular  cases.  He 
shows  the  skeleton  design  of  his  ceiling, 
with  large  and  small  squares,  oblong  and 
oval  panels,  the  mouldings  and  roses  at 
intersection  being  merely  roughed  out. 
The  next  stage  shows  greater  detail,  more 
incavo  and  relief  work,  and  he  observes 
that  in  this  state,  painted  in  monochrome, 
or  we  might  add  two  harmonising  or  con- 
trasting colours,  the  ceiling  is  suitable  for 
a  small,  low-pitched  room.  Then  we  see 
greater  detail  being  added,  partly  by  more 
carving,  but  chiefly  by  means  of  moulded 
stucco.    The  panels  are  filled  up  with  floral 


i5o  CEILINGS 

designs  in  high  relief,  Greek  patterns  are 
given  to  the  mouldings,  the  flat  bands  are 
covered  with  floral  scrolls  and  arabesques, 
and  the  roses  assume  more  importance, 
growing  in  size  and  intricacies.  The  plain 
geometrical  design  with  a  few  convention- 
alised floral  forms  has  now  become  a  highly 
decorated  production  in  which  geometrical 
patterns  intermingle  with  the  highly  fanci- 
ful Renaissance  arabesques,  in  which  half 
conventionalised,  half-realistic  vegetable 
forms  are  blended  with  animal  forms  an 
human  masks.  Such  a  ceiling  is  intend 
to  be  coloured,  with  the  vivid  pure  colour 
the  Cinquecento,  set  off  by  great  splashes 
bands  and  touches  of  gold. 

This  elaborate  form  of  ceiling  came 
England  at  a  rather  later  period, 
interesting  example  is  that  of  the 
Chapel  Royal,  St  James*  Palace,  which 
is  attributed  to  Holbein,  and  is  dat 
1540.  It  is  almost  flat  but  slightly 
coved  at  the  long  sides.  The  wooden 
base  is  divided  up  into  a  great  number 
of  panels  by  rib  mouldings  of  wood 
the  background  being  covered  wit 
plaster  which  is  carved  into  a  variety  o 


i 


m 


TIMBER  ROOFS  151 

decorations  in  high  relief.  The  centres  of 
the  panels  are  filled  mostly  by  Tudor 
heraldic  devices,  including  the  red  rose 
within  the  white,  the  Beaufort  portcullis, 
the  sun  in  splendour,  fleur-de-lis,  Irish 
harp  of  excellent  outline,  winged  dragon 
of  Wales,  Prince  of  Wales'  feathers  con- 
joined with  a  sun  in  splendour,  and  the 
royal  coat  of  arms  (quarterly  France 
modern  and  England,  i.e.,  first  and  fourth 
quarters  blue  with  three  golden  fleur-de- 
lis;  second  and  third  quarters,  red  with 
three  gold  lions,  passant  guardant,  the 
tongues  and  claws  blue).  Many  of  the 
ornaments  are  heavily  gilt  and  shaded 
boldly  with  bistre.  There  are  scrolls 
bearing  mottoes  such  as  "  Henricus  Rex 
Vm,"  "H.&A."  (Henry  and  Anne  of 
Cleves),  the  initials  joined  by  lover's 
knots,  "  Vivat  Rex,  1540,"  "  Dieu  et  mon 
Droit,' ■  etc.  The  background  of  the 
panels  is  painted  a  dark  blue,  the  mould- 
ings of  the  ribs  are  painted  green,  and  are 
ornamented  on  the  under  side  with  a  small 
running  ornament  cast  in  lead.  The  foli- 
ated ornaments  are  also  green,  while  the 
heraldic  devices  and  supporters  are  era- 


i52  CEILINGS 

blazoned  in  proper  colours.  It  is  a  hand- 
some production,  though  its  mundane 
decoration  is  more  suitable  for  a  State 
apartment  than  a  church.  It  has  under- 
gone various  repairs,  notably  by  Sir 
Robert  Smirke  in  1830,  but  practically 
remains  in  its  original  condition,  thus 
giving  us  an  interesting  and  exceptionally 
fine  specimen  of  the  mixed  work  referred 
to  above.  It  is  a  kind  of  work  that 
found  many  experimenters  and  liben 
patrons. 

Hampton  Court  offers  a  most  happ^ 
hunting  ground  for  those  interested  in  the 
decorations  of  ceilings.  Not  the  least 
noteworthy  specimens  are  the  few  remain- 
ing going  back  to  Wolsey's  time.  George 
Cavendish,  Gentleman  Usher  to,  and  faith- 
ful biographer  of  the  great  Cardinal,  write* 
enthusiastically  about  the  splendid  Thame- 
side  Palace,  which  he  watched  gradually 
rise  under  the  commanding  genius  of  his 
master,  who  laid  all  civilised  Europe  under 
contribution  to  embellish  this  gorgeous 
cell,  where  the  mighty  of  the  earth  were  to 
come  and  do  him  homage.  Cavendish 
sings  of  ; 


TIMBER  ROOFS  153 

"  My  buildings  sumptuous,  the  roofs  with  gold  and  byse, 
Shone  like  the  sun  in  midday  sphere 
Craftily  entailed,  as  cunning  could  devise 
With  images  embossed,  and  most  lovely  did  appear."* 

Of  these  purple  ceilings,  flashing  with 
gold,  something  remains.  The  ceiling  of 
the  so-called  Cardinal's  Closet,  at  the  east 
side  of  the  Clock  Tower,  is  flat,  of  wood 
panels  with  ribbed  octagonal  designs  of 
moulded  wood  and  decorative  scroll  work, 
balls  and  leaves  of  lead  being  placed  at  the 
intersections.  Originally  the  background 
was  painted  blue,  and  the  raised  patterns 
gilded.  The  Cardinal's  Withdrawing- 
room,  adjoining  the  Great  Hall  also  has  a 
flat  timber  ceiling,  decorated  with  moder- 
ate sized  pendants,  terminated  by  circular 
cartouches  emblazoned  with  heraldic 
shields.  Between  these  are  fleur-de-lis, 
Tudor  roses,  portcullis  and  other  badges, 
as  well  as  shields  with  the  quartered  royal 
arms,  France  and  England.  Moulded  ribs 
of  oak  divide  the  ceiling  in  geometric 
panels,  the  whole  formerly  being  richly 

*  Byse  has  been  translated  as  blue,  but  we  must  take 
it  to  be  purple,  for  bys  referred  to  a  brownish  fair,  and  is  a 
cognate  word  with  bis,  brown  (as  in  pain  bis)  and  bistre. 
Entailed  means  carved,  being  derived  from  entail. 


i54  CEILINGS 

painted.  The  great  Watching  Chamber, 
or  Guard-room,  has  a  low  ceiling  of  intri- 
cate ribs  and  pendants  at  the  intersections. 
The  ribs  and  pendants  are  of  oak.  In  the 
centres  of  the  compartments  are  oaken 
wreaths  bound  by  ribbons,  enclosing  arms 
and  Tudor  badges,  including  the  white 
Yorkish  rose  within  the  Lancastrian  red 
rose,  Henry  VII.'s  hawthorn  bush,  Jane 
Seymour's  phoenix  rising  from  the  flames, 
and  her  castle  with  rose  bush  and  phoenix, 
fleur-de-lis,  the  arms  of  France  and  Eng- 
land quarterly,  all  in  their  proper  colours 
and  gilt.  These  ornaments  are  carried  out 
in  a  form  gesso — in  this  case  apparently  a 
kind  of  carton  pierre,  or  paper  soaked  in 
glue,  made  into  a  paste  and  pressed  into 
moulds. 

After  the  Restoration  wood  carving  be- 
came more  florid,  we  have  many  specimens 
of  combined  boarded  backgrounds,  with 
plaster  or  wood  ribs,  arranged  as  high 
relief  mouldings  or  as  flat  strapwork,  and 
sometimes  carved  wood  framing.  But  we 
also  have  the  frankly  carved  wood  speci- 
mens associated  with  the  school  of  Grinling 
Gibbons.     The  work  of  this  school,  as  of 


TIMBER  ROOFS  155 

the  master  himself,  is  marked  with  con- 
summate craftsmanship,  often  keen  obser- 
vance of  nature,  but  very  little  taste  or 
sense  of  the  appropriate  in  design.  Gib- 
bons' long  garlands,  short  swags,  drooping 
sprays  of  foliage  and  fruit  (often  mixed 
with  birds  and  game,  and  sometimes  sup- 
ported by  naked  amoretti)  are  usually 
wonderfully  close  to  nature  (although 
occasionally  the  natural  is  curiously  jum- 
bled with  the  conventional) .  The  carving 
is  generally  in  high  relief  and  deeply 
undercut.  You  feel  that  you  could  pick 
the  various  items  to  smell  or  taste  them, 
yet  the  general  effect  is  poor,  because  too 
heavy,  and  seldom  seemingly  in  its  right 
place.  The  carvings  of  this  school  always 
appear  as  somewhat  obtrusive  accessories, 
not  as  the  obligatory  accompaniment  or 
spontaneous  outgrowth  such  as  we  see  in 
the  best  Gothic  work  and  of  all  true  decora- 
tive art.  Of  the  actual  skill  of  Gibbons 
there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  he  does  not 
belong  to  the  select  band  of  perfect  design- 
ers. Two  good  examples  of  his  ceiling 
work,  in  different  manners,  exist  in  Lon- 
don, and  we  append  a  description  of  these, 


156  CEILINGS 

kindly  contributed  by  Mr  Mackenzie 
MacBride,  who  has  made  a  special  study  of 
this  period  :  "  The  ceilings  carved  in  lime 
wood  or  oak  left  to  us  by  the  great  wood 
carver,  Grinling  Gibbons,  are  few  in  num- 
ber, and  they  stand  quite  apart;  for  in 
England  carving  in  wood  of  any  kind  is 
as  much  a  lost  art  as  is  engraving  in  mezzo- 
tint since  the  days  of  Samuel  Cousen  and 
David  Lucas,  the  last  of  a  great  tradition. 
There  are  specimens  of  Gibbons'  ceilings 
in  the  heart  of  London,  which,  though 
quite  unknown  to  the  public,  are  neverthe- 
less worth  study.  I  refer  to  the  fine  ceiling 
of  the  Court  Room  of  the  Haberdasher's 
Company  in  Gresham  Street. 

1 '  The  Haberdasher's  Hall  was  destroyed, 
like  so  many  others  in  the  great  fire  of 
London,  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren  was 
called  in  to  design  a  new  building.  In  the 
fire  which  broke  out  on  the  premises  of 
Messrs  Tapling,  next  door,  in  1886  or 
1887,  the  great  Dining  Hall  by  Wren  was 
almost  completely  destroyed,  the  roof  being 
entirely  so,  but  the  Court  Room  and  the 
Drawing-room  remained  unharmed. 
"  The  ceiling  of  the  Court  Room  is 


TIMBER  ROOFS  157 

admirable  piece  of  work ;  as  a  specimen  of 
Gibbons'  carving  at  his  best  it  would  be 
hard  to  find  work  more  spirited,  delicate, 
and  deliciously  suggestive  of  the  luscious- 
ness  of  fruit  and  the  beauty  and  freshness 
of  flowers  wet  with  the  dew  from  the  walled 
garden  and  green  meadows  where  they 
grew,  than  in  the  splendid  triangular 
panels  at  the  four  corners  of  the  ceiling, 
which  are  the  chief  strength  of  the  whole 
well-planned  design.  From  these  panels, 
which  are  deeply  undercut,  and  in  full 
relief,  the  eye  passes  to  the  great  oblong 
central  space,  which  forms  the  centre  of 
the  ceiling  and  throws  the  work  of  the 
carver  into  prominence.  The  intervening 
space  is  filled  with  swags  of  leaves  of  bay, 
with  grapes  and  other  fruit  all  in  high 
relief  and  boldly  and  deeply  undercut. 

* '  Near  the  entrance  are  carved  and  em- 
blazoned the  arms  of  the  Company,  and  the 
room  has  a  plain  and  admirably  effective 
frieze  of  the  leaves  of  the  acanthus  painted 
in  gold.  In  the  recesses  on  either  side  of 
the  fireplace,  designed  so  that  they  may  in 
no  way  distract  the  attention  from  the  great 
central  portion  of  the  scheme,    are   two 


i58  CEILINGS 

oblong  panels  carved  in  low  relief.  The 
moderation  in  the  carving  of  these  panels 
strikes  one  as  being  well  considered.  A 
novice  would  have  exerted  himself  to  beau- 
tify them,  Gibbons  knew  that  to  do  so 
would  be  to  make  them  centres  of  observa- 
tion, and  so  spoil  the  spectator's  sense  of 
the  beauty  and  completeness  of  the  whole 
ceiling,  and  the  great  beauty  of  the  four 
triangular  panels  set  close  by  the  carver  of 
the  restful  undecorated  oblong  in  the 
centre  of  the  room. 

"  The  only  jarring  note  in  the  wor 
strikes  us  as  being  the  coat  of  arms,  which, 
amongst  the  classical  suggestions  of  the 
acanthus  and  other  forms  of  ornament  used, 
gives  a  suggestion  of  incongruity,  and, 
in  view  of  the  wonderful  delicacy  of  the 
chief  panels,  almost  of  vulgarity.  This  is, 
however,  little  reflection  on  the  designer 
or  the  sculptor,  for  the  presence  of  the  arms 
was  inevitable,  and  the  designer,  in  placing 
them  near  the  entrance  and  outside  the 
main  design,  minimised  the  evil  as  far  as 
it  was  possible. 

* '  One  of  the  excellent  points  in  the  decor 
tion  of  the  room  is  that,  though  rich  of  its 


i 

ts 


TIMBER  ROOFS  159 

kind,  it  is  not  overdone,  as  was  so  apt  to  be 
the  case  in  designs  of  the  kind.  In  this 
case  the  large  plain  central  oblong  saves  us 
from  excess  and  carries  the  eye  for  relief  to 
panels  as  fine  as  anything  we  know  in  the 
London  neighbourhood. 

' '  Gibbons  was  seldom  reticent.  He  was 
German  in  taste  rather  than  British.  As 
a  rule  he  gave  Us  an  orgy  :  here  he  has 
given  us  only  a  solid  meal^  which  we  can 
digest  and  appreciate. 

"  If  the  Court  Room  is  strong  and  effec- 
tive, the  Drawing-room  is  a  triumph  of 
delicacy  and  daintiness.  The  design, 
which  is  in  low  relief  throughout,  centres 
round  a  diamond  formed  of  four  swags 
joined  at  each  point  by  a  trefoil,  the  dia- 
mond is  overlapped  by  two  circles  formed 
of  a  string  of  myrtle  leaves  on  the  outside, 
and  decorated  inside  with  a  semi-circular 
arrangement  of  leaves.  In  the  middle  of 
these  rings  are  radiations  springing  from 
the  chandeliers  :  these  are  surrounded  by 
wreaths  of  leaves  and  flowers.  At  the  four 
corners  of  the  room  are  ventilators  formed 
out  of  roses  surrounded  by  wreaths.  A 
cornice  formed  of  vases  alternating  with 


i6o  CEILINGS 

honeysuckle  adds  greatly  to  the  effect. 
Over  the  door  is  a  simple  swag  of  silk ;  the 
walls  are  panelled  throughout.  All  the 
decorative  carving  is  painted  gold,  while 
the  ceiling  and  walls  are  cream  colour. 
The  whole  effect  is  excellent  and  admirably 
suited  to  the  purpose  for  which  the  room  is 
intended.  It  is  refined  and  dainty  rather 
than  flamboyant,  and  there  is  no  note  of 
vulgarity  in  any  part  of  the  scheme. 
Gibbons  and  the  men  of  his  time  delighted 
in  catching  the  effect  of  silk  in  their 
ribbons  and  drapings,  and  here  we  agree 
with  Ruskin  who  did  not  consider  such 
cheap  and  ephemeral  objects  worthy  of  a 
great  craftsman's  skill  and  imitation,  in 
a  quite  alien  material.  The  presence  of 
the  ribbon  is  the  only  thing  the  design 
might  have  left  out  in  a  delightful  room.' 
It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  main  we  a 
in  agreement  with  Mr  MacBride.  A 
instance  of  Gibbons*  rather  weak  design- 
ing talent  is  shown  in  his  treatment  of  the 
armorial  bearings  of  the  Company,  which 
appear  rather  obtrusively  as  outside  the 
scheme,  instead  of  being  incorporated  with 
it,  and  the  crudities  of  a  bad  period  of 


or 

; 


to 


o 


a 

a 

JZ 

O 


TIMBER  ROOFS  161 

heraldry,  softened  by  association  with 
floral  scrolls,  which  is  certainly  the  course 
that  the  men  of  the  early  Renaissance 
would  have  taken. 

With  the  Georgian  period,  this  kind  of 
ceiling  went  out  of  fashion,  and  of  recent 
years  has  been  represented  practically  only 
by  flat  and  polygonal  construction,  the 
boards  being  either  varnished  or  coloured 
in  tempera. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS 

Various  phases  of  decoration  for  church 
ceilings  and  roofs  have  been  dealt  with  at 
length  in  the  preceding  chapters,  but 
several  particular  examples  afford  useful 
lessons  for  us,  and  so  deserve  detailed 
description. 

Early  Christian  art  may  be  said  to  have 
lasted  until  a.d.  800,  and  most  of  our 
knowledge  of  it  we  owe  to  the  carvings  and 
paintings  in  the  catacombs  at  Rome,  mini- 
atures adorning  manuscripts,  and  vestiges 
of  decoration  on  a  few  architectural 
remains.  These  early  churches — whether 
of  the  basilica — oblongs  with  an  apse,  and 
in  the  completed  specimens,  aisles ;  or  the 
round  often  had  vaulted  ceilings,  barrel- 
shaped  over  the  body  of  the  oblong  edifices, 
and  groined  over  the  apse.  These  were  of 
wood,  bricks  or  stone,  and  were  sometimes 
162 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    163 

plastered.  Deep  cofferings,  as  in  classical 
prototypes,  are  not  uncommon,  and  both 
carving  and  painting  were  employed. 
Applied  decoration  was  essentially  sym- 
bolical, geometrical  figures  included  the 
cross  (both  the  Latin  with  long  lower  limb, 
and  the  Greek  with  limbs  of  equal  dimen- 
sions), triangles  (the  Holy  Trinity),  and  its 
specially  mystic  forms,  the  pentacle  (two 
triangles  super-imposed,  one  with  the  apex 
turned  up,  the  other  turned  down,  forming 
a  fretwork  six-pointed  star),  and  the  tri- 
questra  (or  endless  knot  twisted  into  a 
three-lobed  figure  with  a  central  triangle) ; 
and  the  trefoil  of  many  types.  God  the 
Father  is  represented  by  a  hand  issuing 
from  a  cloud ;  the  Holy  Ghost  by  a  dove. 
Our  Lord  was  represented  by  the  lamb  (the 
cross  standing  for  the  wider  sense  of 
Christian  religion),  and  a  fish.  The  latter 
gave  rise  to  that  peculiar  form  of  the  aure- 
ole or  glory,  the  vesica  piscis,  a  pointed 
ellipsis,  supposed  to  be  the  outline  of  a 
fish's  bladder,  and  frequently  shown  as 
enclosing  the  figure  of  Christ  or  some 
sacred  emblem.  Three  fishes  placed  in  a 
circle  or  grouped  as  a  triangle  symbolised 


: 


i64  CEILINGS 

Christian  baptism,  being  more  emphatic 
than  the  chevron  and  other  wave  forms, 
although  used  for  the  same  purpose,  as 
they  had  been  employed  before  to  repre- 
sent pagan  lustrations.  A  dolphin,  that 
pagan  emblem  of  youth  and  sea  power, 
stood  for  the  Resurrection.  At  quite  an 
early  period,  however,  pictures  of  Christ 
were  attempted.  There  were  practically 
two  schools  of  art,  the  African ,  which 
depicted  the  Saviour  as  Ugly,  with  the 
desire  of  emphasising  the  triumph  of  th 
Divine  over  the  externals  of  Incarnatio 
(and  from  this  school  we  have  black  effigies 
of  Christ),  and  the  Greek  school)  which 
represented  Our  Lord  as  the  physical  em- 
bodiment of  beauty.  He  was  shown  as  a 
beardless  youth,  with  long  curly  hair. 
From  this  latter  school  the  Latins  evolved 
a  type  that  has  stood  as  the  basis  of  icono- 
graphy ever  since.  It  shows  a  man  of  about 
thirty,  with  long  oval  face,  broad  smooth 
forehead,  straight  slender  nose,  arched 
brows,  hair  parted  in  the  middle,  full 
beard,  and  sweet  but  grave  expression. 
This  perfect  type,  however,  came  at  a 
rather  later  period.    The  eagle  of  St  John, 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    165 

winged  ox  of  St  Luke,  and  winged  lion  of 
St  Mark,  or  even  eagle,  ox  and  lion-headed 
human  bodies  were  often  used.  Other 
animals  and  also  inanimate  objects  were 
employed  symbolically.  As  pointed  out 
above,  the  portraiture  of  Christ  was  a  slow 
evolution,  for  in  the  early  stages,  figure 
painting,  though  not  rarely  deeply  im- 
pressed with  a  feeling  of  religious  ecstasy, 
is  crude,  without  that  sense  of  proportion 
and  physical  beauty  so  general  among  the 
Greeks.  Yet  the  pagan  influence  is  quite 
unmistakable  in  many  of  the  paintings, 
which  betray  a  continuity  of  memory  if  not 
of  superstition,  for  not  only  is  the  grouping 
constantly  modelled  in  mythological  sub- 
jects, but  we  see  mythological  figures  (such 
as  river-gods  and  personifications  of  the 
Elements)  introduced,  slightly  disguised, 
or  disguised  not  at  all.  The  paintings  are 
very  flat,  with  little  suggestion  of  the 
roundness  of  life,  and  practically  a  com- 
plete ignoring  of  perspective. 

Byzantine  church  decoration,  and  indeed 
decoration  in  this  style  of  every  descrip- 
tion, is  more  distinctly  Christian  and 
devotional   in   character,   though   with   a 


166  CEILINGS 

curious  suggestion  of  formalism  and  the 
importance  of  an  elaborate  ritual.  Crude 
and  stiff  as  is  the  figure  drawing,  it  is 
effective.  The  angular  figures,  unlike 
those  in  antique  buildings,  are  gorgeously 
apparelled,  vivid  colour  and  gold  being 
used,  and  are  usually  made  to  stand  out 
from  a  background  of  broken  gold,  or  a  light 
tint  laid  on  fiat.  Such  paintings  are  com- 
monly richly  framed  in  mosaic,  or  broad 
lines  of  brilliant  colour  and  gold,  while 
the  mass  of  ceiling,  vault  or  wall  is  cover 
by  open  scroll  work,  or  very  heavy  arabes 
ques,  foliated  scrolls,  often  framing  little 
square,  circular  or  oval  medallions  painted 
or  filled  in  with  mosaic  pictures — such  as 
portraits  of  sacred  or  historical  personages 
of  birds  and  beasts.  Although  Byzantin 
art  as  a  complete  whole  had  but  a  short 
reign  in  Italy,  and  still  shorter  outside 
the  peninsular  in  occidental  Europe,  it 
lingered  in  Eastern  Europe  and  flourishes 
to  this  day  in  Russia,  while  its  influence  on 
art  in  general  and  especially  religious  art 
was  deep  and  lasting. 

Architects  and  artists  of  the  Renaissance 
and  early  Gothic  inherited  the  traditions  of 


ile 

es- 
tle 

* 

rt 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    167 

primitive  Christian  art,  largely  modified 
by  Byzantine  feeling,  and  to  some  extent 
technique.  Geometrical  figures  and  sym- 
bolism, as  we  have  shown,  played  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  decoration.  There  was 
a  great  tendency  to  use  colour  in  masses 
and  in  strong  contrast,  while  figure  paint- 
ing was  largely  resorted  to.  The  Roman- 
esque and,  indeed,  the  whole  medieval 
school,  shows  a  rapid  technique,  with  a 
struggle  between  pure  conventionalism  and 
a  dawning,  but  awkward  naturalism.  Fig- 
ures stand  out  from  backgrounds  of  pale, 
pure  tints,  generally  blue;  gold  and  rich 
colours  are  used  to  heighten  effects  and  add 
ornamentation. 

Cimabue  marked  the  link  between  the 
old  order  and  the  dawning  of  the  new. 
He  shows  a  devotional  spirit,  a  sense  of 
colour  and  a  distinct  intention  to  approach 
nature.  One  of  his  best  known  and  most 
characteristic  works  is  the  embellishment 
in  the  lower  Church  of  the  Convent  of  St 
Francis,  Assisi.  The  four  compartments 
of  the  vaulting  are  filled  with  half-length 
figures  of  the  Saviour,  St  John,  the  Virgin 
Mary,  and  St  Francis,  exhibiting  the  stig- 


168  CEILINGS 


mata.  All  four  have  the  plain  glory;  the 
figures  are  rather  stiff,  but  well  drawn  and 
coloured ;  the  draperies  belong  decidedly  to 
the  old  order.  Two  angels,  each  holding  a 
globe  and  cross,  occupy  the  spandrels 
dividing  the  compartments.  A  rainbow 
ornament  is  seen  in  the  background.  The 
surrounding  space  is  richly  decorated  with 
symbolical  ornaments,  such  as  the  winged 
bull  of  St  John,  crosses  and  flowers.  It  is 
to  be  noted  that  the  angels  have  hair  of 
that  rich  auburn  hue  which  was  afterwards 
to  be  identified  with  Titian's  school.  Cim- 
abue  was  appointed  Capo  Maestro,  or  chief 
of  the  mosaic  artists  for  the  Duomo  at  Pisa, 
where  we  have  from  him  a  marvellous 
Christ  in  His  Glory  in  the  apse.  Michel 
Angelo  Buonarrotti  showed  a  fine  combina- 
tion of  naturalism  founded  on  a  study  of 
classic  examples  and  on  anatomy.  At  first 
his  manner  leaned  more  to  naturalism, 
then  his  own  powerful  imagination  pre- 
vailed, and  we  have  a  freer  style,  with  a 
grand  representation  of  beauty  of  form. 
It  is  to  this  stronger,  more  vigorous  man- 
ner that  his  great  work  in  the  Sistine 
Chapel,  Rome,  belongs.    He  decorated  the 


. 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    169 

whole  surface  of  the  Chapel,  a  colossal 
effort,  for  the  ceiling,  with  which  we  are 
more  immediately  concerned,  measures 
132  feet  by  44  feet.  He  began  his  work  in 
1508  and  completed  it,  practically  unaided, 
in  1512.  The  ceiling  is  a  plain,  flat  arc  of 
an  ellipse,  68  feet  above  the  floor.  In  order 
to  produce  an  effective  yet  natural  design, 
to  occupy  such  a  tremendous  expanse, 
Michel  Angelo  fell  back  upon  his  profound 
knowledge  of  the  art  of  building,  He 
designed  an  imaginary  architectural 
scheme,  in  which  columns,  pillars,  entab- 
latures, cornices  and  so  on  rise  gracefully 
from  the  walls.  These  architectural  mem- 
bers are  painted  to  represent  marble  and 
bronze,  carved  and  chased  with  classic 
mouldings  and  bold  ornamentation.  In 
this  way  he  was  not  only  able  to  divide  up 
the  space  into  suitable  sections,  but  provide 
an  appropriate  framing  for  his  pictures,  a 
framing,  which,  while  dividing,  linked  up 
the  whole  majestic  series.  As  part  of  this 
architectural  machinery  we  have  a  most 
extensive  and  varied  series  of  figures, 
single  and  grouped,  now  painted  to  life, 
now  represented  as  bronze  statues,  occa- 


i7o  CEILINGS 

sionally  doing  duty  as  caryatides,  but  more 
commonly  as  statues,  or  living  figures  con- 
nected with  the  building.  The  effect  is  to 
produce  a  most  natural  sense  of  blending 
between  the  walls  and  ceiling  and  the  spec- 
tator. A  further  step  in  this  illusion  is 
provided  by  twelve  panels  filled  with  pic- 
tures of  the  Prophets  in  appropriate  atti- 
tudes, and  with  their  attributes,  the 
enraptured  beautiful  young  Delphic  Sybil, 
and  the  withered  old  form  of  the  Cumean 
Sybil,  the  face  worn  with  the  knowledge 
and  wisdom  of  ages.  Two  boys  on  each 
side  of  these  twelve  panels  are  shown 
standing  on  pedestals  supporting  on  their 
heads  with  uplifted  hands  the  architraves 
and  cornices  which  run  round  the  central 
panels  of  the  ceiling.  They  are  most  life- 
like in  appearance,  and  although  there  are 
forty-eight  of  these  chubby,  almost  un- 
draped  figures,  each  boy  assumes  a  differ- 
ent attitude,  and  has  an  individual  expres- 
sion. This  same  care  in  design  is 
seen  throughout.  These  prophets  lead  up 
to  another  series  of  twenty-two  small 
panels,  filled  with  groups  of  figures  repre- 
senting the  genealogy  of  Christ.    All  this 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    171 

is  to  set  off  the  nine  large  middle  oblong 
panels,  the  four  lunettes  in  the  corners, 
and  the  ten  small  circular  panels  in  which 
the  Old  Testament  story  of  Genesis,  from 
the  Creation  to  the  Fall  of  Man,  is  told 
with  the  sure  touch  of  genius.  The  first 
oblong  panel,  which  is  immediately  over 
the  awful  painting  of  the  Last  Judgment 
on  the  wall  below,  shows,  as  Michel 
Angelo's  pupil,  Asconi  Condivici,  says  : 
1  *  God  Almighty  with  uplifted  arms  separ- 
ating light  from  darkness . ' '  In  the  second 
panel  the  Creator  surrounded  and  sup- 
ported by  angels,  holds  the  Sun  in  His 
right  hand  and  the  Moon  in  His  left.  In 
the  third,  God  commands  the  sea  to  bring 
forth  fish.  The  fourth  and  fifth  show  the 
creation  of  Adam  and  Eve.  The  sixth 
panel  is  divided  into  two  sections  :  in  the 
upper  we  see  Evil,  represented  as  a  snake, 
with  the  bust,  head  and  arms  of  a  woman, 
coiled  round  a  tree  and  tempting  the  first 
man  and  woman ;  in  the  lower,  Adam  and 
Eve  are  driven  from  Paradise.  The 
seventh  panel  represents  the  sacrifice  of 
Noah ;  the  eighth,  the  Deluge ;  the  ninth, 
the  drunkenness  of  Noah.     The  four  lun- 


1 72  CEILINGS 

ettes  contain  paintings  of  the  people  perish- 
ing by  a  swarm  of  biting  serpents;  the 
punishment  of  Haman  and  the  ascent  of 
Mordecai ;  the  death  of  Goliath ;  and  Judith 
and  Holof ernes.  The  ten  circular  panels 
bear  groups  appropriate  to,  and  elaborat- 
ing the  story  told  in  the  larger  oblongs. 
The  whole  extraordinary  production  with 
its  army  of  figures,  is  instinct  with  life  and 
piety.  Each  figure  is  a  masterly  study  in 
pose  and  expression.  The  sublime  gran- 
deur of  the  Creator,  aloof  and  beneficent, 
is  far  removed  in  conception  from  the 
angelic  and  human  throng.  Not  only  are 
we  shown  youth,  age,  but  the  very  feeling 
of  the  various  personages.  The  anatomy 
is  a  revelation,  and  the  daring  foreshorten- 
ing, for  instance  in  Jonah  and  certain  of 
the  accessory  figures,  displays  a  sure  grasp 
and  a  knowledge  of  visual  effect  that  has 
perhaps  never  been  equalled,  certainly 
never  surpassed.  The  colouring  also, 
suffered  much  though  it  has,  is  superb. 
But,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  the  archi- 
tectural machinery  apart,  this  ceiling 
represents  painting  in  the  wrong  place. 
We  are  dealing  here  with  high  art,  not 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    173 

decorative  art,  and  so  the  full  beauty  can 
never  be  appreciated  at  its  worth,  even 
when  the  adventitious  aid  of  the  mirrors 
offered  by  guides  are  used.  Of  the  whole 
series  of  pictures,  the  two  first  alone  appear 
to  be  in  their  right  places. 

In  St  Peter's,  Rome,  the  immense  and 
lofty  nave  is  covered  by  a  barrel  vault,  the 
painted  and  gilded  stucco  being  orna- 
mented with  deep  coffers,  these  rows  being 
alternately  oblong  and  square.  Coffers 
with  bevelled  edges  also  adorn  the  soffits  of 
the  great  arches.  The  cupola  of  the  dome, 
412  feet  from  the  floor,  is  beautifully  en- 
riched with  mosaic  ornamentation,  sur- 
rounding four  mosaic  panels  with  figures 
of  the  Saviour,  the  Virgin,  and  the 
Apostles.  Above  all,  on  a  level  with  the 
lantern  is  God  Almighty.  St  Peter's  is, 
however,  more  remarkable  for  the  majestic 
proportions,  the  grandeur  of  its  sculptures, 
than  for  its  applied  decoration. 

At  Parma  we  have  some  remarkable 
work  by  Corregio.  The  cupola  of  San 
Giovanni  is  treated  as  Heaven.  Christ 
is  seen  in  glory,  with  a  background  of 
clouds,  and  is  an  extraordinarily  successful 


i74  CEILINGS 

example  of  foreshortening.  Below  are  the 
Apostles,  reclining  in  different  attitudes 
on  clouds  and  gazing  upwards  in  rapt 
attention.  This  was  painted  in  the  year 
152.  Two  years  after  the  completion, 
Corregio  carried  out  a  similar  scheme  in 
the  Cathedral  of  Parma.  Here,  too,  the 
cupola  presents  a  view  of  the  Heavens,  but 
with  more  ambitious  grouping  and  with  a 
most  happy  utilisation  of  the  peculiar  con- 
ditions of  lighting.  The  dome  is  without 
a  lantern,  light  being  admitted  through 
windows  in  the  lower  half.  The  subject 
of  the  painting  is  the  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin.  Christ  is  depicted  in  the  upper 
half  of  the  cupola  coming  forward  through 
an  angelic  host  to  greet  the  Madonna,  who 
in  the  lower  half  is  borne  upwards  by  the 
angels.  Christ  appears  as  the  centre  of 
light ;  His  mysterious  effulgence  sweeping 
downwards  to  the  ascending  group.  Placed 
in  the  lower  part  between  the  windows  are 
the  Apostles  gazing  reverently  and  awe- 
struck on  the  scene,  while  behind  them  are 
genii  bearing  candelabra  and  other  orna- 
ments. In  both  cases  the  colouring  is 
beautifully  soft,  well  suited  to  the  subjects. 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    175 

In  quite  a  different  style  is  Corregio's 
work  at  the  once  wealthy  Convent  of  San 
Paulo  in  the  same  city.  Here  the  most 
striking  painting  is  on  the  walls  of  the 
chapel,  which  tells  the  story  of  Diana 
returning  from  the  chase.  The  vaulted 
ceiling  is  represented  as  a  pergola,  or  trel- 
lised  tunnel  covered  with  vines.  It  is  a 
mass  of  most  realistic  leaves  and  fruit. 
But  here  and  there  are  openings  in  the 
foliage  and  trellis,  through  which  a  bright 
blue  sky  and  fleecy  clouds  are  seen.  In 
these  openings,  silhouetted  boldly  against 
the  heavens  appear  naked  cupids,  single  or 
in  couples,  wrestling  and  playing,  some 
bearing  attributes  of  the  chase.  There  are 
altogether  sixteen  of  these  figures,  and 
their  clear  flesh  tints  produce  a  delightful 
harmony  with  the  bright  blue,  the  white 
clouds,  and  vivid  mass  of  green  broken  up 
by  the  trellis  work.  It  is  charming  in 
design,  and  quite  a  model  in  the  harmonis- 
ing of  colouring  and  the  handling  of  light 
and  shade.  Like  his  other  work  in  Parma, 
this  painting  looks  quite  appropriate  in  its 
position. 

Rubens  was  another  master  of  colouring 


\ 


176  CEILINGS 


1    A 


and  the  contrast  of  light  and  shade,  with  a 
firm  grip  of  design,  and  the  use  of  fore- 
shortening. When  he  chose,  his  ceiling 
painting  was  admirable,  well  adapted  for 
decorative  purposes,  not  giving  the 
spectator  the  impression  (as  his  great  work 
in  the  Banqueting  Hall,  Whitehall,  does) 
that  he  is  cricking  his  neck  to  gaze  on  a 
badly  hung  picture.  Excellent  specimens 
of  his  better  manner  for  this  class  of  work 
adorned  the  ceilings  of  the  lower  and  top 
galleries  in  the  Jesuits'  Church  at  Ant- 
werp, which  was  struck  by  lightning  in 
1 710,  when  Ruben's  paintings  were 
destroyed  in  the  resulting  fire.  Happily 
the  paintings  had  been  copied  by  Jacob  de 
Witt,  and  of  these  copies  we  possess 
copperplates  engraved  under  De  Witt's 
supervision.  The  foreshortening  is 
very  fine,  and  in  most  cases  the  sub- 
jects are  carefully  chosen  for  treatment 
on  ceilings,  as  our  two  reproductions 
show. 

The  blending  of  sculpture  or  carving  and 
painting  was,  of  course,  very  common  in 
churches.  Equally  happy  combinations  of 
mosaic  work  and  painting  are  to  be  seen  in 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    177 

Siena,  Venice,  in  St  Peter's,  Rome,  and  in 
our  own  St  Paul's. 

A  peculiarity  of  the  dome  of  St  Paul's 
is  that  it  is  in  three  distinct  parts.  First 
we  have  the  outer  shell,  or  dome  proper; 
then  a  brick  cone  rising  to  the  top  of  the 
dome,  with  elaborate  timbering  between 
the  two,  and  within  the  cone  the  ellipsoidal 
cupola,  which  is  supported  from  the  vaults 
on  eight  columns.  This  cupola  is  open  at 
the  top,  with  a  railed  gallery  running 
round  it.  Through  the  aperture  the  in- 
side of  the  brick  cone,  which  is  gilded,  is 
seen.  Light  pours  in  through  elliptical 
windows  in  the  cone,  this  light  being 
derived  chiefly  from  the  lantern  above. 
Wren  intended  that  his  cupola  should  be 
adorned  with  mosaics,  but  it  was  left  bare 
of  ornament  for  some  years  after  comple- 
tion, and  then  Sir  James  Thornhill  was 
commissioned  to  cover  the  eight  great  span- 
drels with  paintings,  which  he  executed  in 
grisaille.  The  figures  were  of  colossal 
size  and  represented  the  miraculous  con- 
version of  St  Paul;  the  punishment  of 
Elymas  the  Sorcerer ;  Paul  at  Lystra ;  the 
conversion  of  the  gaoler  at  Philippi ;  Paul 

M 


i78  CEILINGS 


the 
are 


preaching  at  Athens;  the  burning  of  the 
books  of  magic  at  Ephesus ;  Paul  before 
Agrippa;  and  his  shipwreck.  While 
Thornhill  was  engaged  on  this  painting, 
standing  on  a  scaffolding  hundreds  of  feet 
above  the  floor,  oblivious  of  everything 
except  his  work,  he  stepped  back  to  judge 
the  effect  of  some  finishing  touches  and 
would  have  toppled  over,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  promptness  of  his  assistant,  who 
dashed  a  brush  full  of  colour  on  the  paint- 
ing. Thornhill  darted  forward  and  was 
saved.  Good  as  was  the  design,  the 
medium  chosen  and  the  immense  height 
made  the  decoration  quite  ineffective. 
Moreover,  the  atmospheric  influences  soon 
damaged  them,  and  they  had  to  be  restored 
in  1854.  This  was  felt  to  be  a  mere  make- 
shift, and  steps  were  taken  to  decorate  the 
interior  in  a  fitting  manner.  Various 
schemes  were  suggested,  but  it  was  not 
until  the  eighties  of  last  century  that 
Wren's  original  idea  was  carried  out,  and 
the  eight  spandrels  of  the  cupola  filled  in 
with  mosaic.  This  work  was  executed  by 
Salvialti  from  designs  by  leading  British 
artists .    The  gigantic  figures  of  St  Matthew 


I 


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SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    179 

and  St  John  are  by  G.  F.  Watts ;  those  of 
St  Mark  and  St  Luke,  by  Brittan  ;  those  of 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel  and  Daniel,  by 
A.  Stevens.  On  the  lower  quarter  at  the 
shorter  side  of  the  octagon  supporting  the 
dome  are  mosaics  by  Sir  W.  B.  Richmond  : 
the  N.E.  represents  the  Crucifixion,  the 
N.W.  the  Resurrection,  the  S.W.  the 
Entombment,  and  the  S.E.  the  Ascension. 
The  vaulting  and  walls  of  the  choir  have 
been  decorated  in  smalto,  or  glass  mosaics, 
from  designs  by  Sir  W.  B.  Richmond.  On 
the  central  panel  over  the  apse  is  Christ 
enthroned,  to  the  right  and  left  stand 
recording  angels.  On  the  panels  between 
the  stone  ribs  of  the  roof  in  the  apse,  as 
well  as  the  adjoining  bay,  are  six  figures  of 
the  virtues  :  Hope,  Fortitude,  Charity, 
Truth,  Chastity  and  Justice,  all  appropri- 
ately symbolised.  In  the  upper  windows  of 
the  apse  we  see  the  twenty-four  Elders  of 
the  Revelations,  with  attendant  angels.  In 
the  adjoining  bay  are  panels  with  pictures 
of  Noah's  sacrifice  and  Melchizedek  bless- 
ing Abraham.  Above  these  are  large 
panels  showing  the  Sea  giving  up  its  Dead. 
In  the  ceiling  of  the  choir  are  saucer  domes 


i8o  CEILINGS 

over  each  of  the  three  bays.  The  mosaic 
in  the  easternmost  dome  represents  the 
Creation  of  the  Birds,  and  the  others  repre- 
sent respectively  the  Creation  of  the  Fishes 
and  the  Beasts.  On  the  four  pendants  in 
each  bay  are  Herald  Angels  with  extended 
arms;  while  in  the  spaces  between  the 
clerestory  windows  on  the  north  side  are 
the  Delphic  and  Persian  Sybils,  Alexander 
the  Great,  Cyrus,  Abraham,  angels,  and 
Job  and  his  three  friends  ;  on  the  south  side 
are  David,  Solomon,  Aholiab,  Bezaleel, 
Moses  and  Jacob.  Adorning  the  spandrels 
of  the  arches  of  the  east  bay  are  angels  with 
the  instruments  of  the  Passion  ;  on  those  of 
the  central  bay,  the  Temptation  and  the 
Annunciation ;  and  on  those  of  the  west 
bay,  the  Expulsion  from  Paradise  and  the 
Creation  of  the  Firmament.  In  rectangular 
panels  above  the  organ,  Adam  and  Eve  are 
shown  in  the  garden  of  Eden.  The 
colouring  in  these  mosaics  is  good,  though 
without  the  brilliance  of  the  early  Byzan- 
tine work,  partly  owing  to  the  deeper  tones, 
the  larger  admission  of  the  tertiaries  and 
more  sparing  use  of  gold.  The  method 
adopted  is  quite  in  the  old  style  :  rather 


SOME  CHURCH  CEILINGS    181 

coarse  work  in  details,  with  perfect  design. 
In  this  way  a  very  pleasing  effect  being 
secured  for  decorations  placed  in  such  posi- 
tion and  at  such  a  height.  The  modern, 
smoother  method,  with  very  close  joints, 
would  not  give  the  natural  effect  with 
mosaic  pictures. 


CHAPTER  X 


PLASTER  WORK 

Plastering,  if  not  as  old  as  the  hills,  is, 
in  its  primitive  type,  at  least  as  old  as  the 
first  attempts  of  non-cave  dwellers  to  build 
themselves  weather-tight  huts.  From  the 
practice  of  daubing  an  outer  coating  and  an 
inner  lining  of  unctuous  mud  on  wattle 
or  rough  stone  huts,  to  the  discovery  of  the 
superior  merits  of  slaked  lime  for  the  pur- 
pose, is  but  a  step  or  two  in  the  long  march 
of  art  progress.  At  all  events  we  find 
plaster — lime  alone  or  as  an  admixture 
being  employed  in  Egypt,  not  only  for  the 
purpose  of  providing  a  smooth  surface,  but 
as  furnishing  a  means  to  decoration,  a  sur- 
face which  could  be  ornamented  with  sunk 
or  raised  patterns  and  the  application  of 
colour.  The  Greeks  early  recognised  its 
merits,  using  a  fine,  hard  stucco,  probably 
of  marble  dust  foundation,  which  they 
placed  on  walls  both  inside  and  outside 
their  temples,  and  no  doubt  on  the  ceilings. 
182 


PLASTER  WORK  183 

They,   through  Etruscan  intermediaries, 
introduced  it  to  the  Romans,  who  seized 
upon  it  gladly  as  affording  them  facilities 
for  carrying  out  those  lavish  schemes  of 
decoration   of  which  they  were  so  fond. 
Evidence  abounds  of  their  extensive  adop- 
tion of  lime  stucco  for  adorning  private  and 
public  edifices,  both  within  and  outside  the 
borders  of  Latium  proper.    They  produced 
a  plaster  of  wonderful  brightness,  almost 
translucent,  and  of  great  durability.    They 
moulded  and  carved  it,  decorated  it  with 
raised  and   incised   patterns,   gilded   and 
painted  it,  and  placed  it  in  combination 
with  costly  materials.     Vitruvius,  writing 
in  the  first  century  B.C.,  gives  elaborate 
directions  how  lime  stucco  is  to  be  prepared 
and  applied,  clearly  dealing  with  common 
and  widespread  practices.     While  advis- 
ing the  selection  of  cypress,  olive,  heart 
of  oak,  box  or  juniper  for  ceiling  joists,  as 
least  liable  to  decay  or  warp,  he  insists 
that  lime  for  stucco  should  be  air-slaked, 
and   allowed   a  long   time  for  maturing, 
moreover,  that  it  should  be  pure  white  and 
unctuous.     Very  beautiful  work  in  low, 
medium  and  high  relief  was  carried  out 


184  CEILINGS 


with  this  stucco  on  vaults  and  ceilings  as 
well  as  on  walls.  The  art  of  decoration 
with  stucco  travelled  eastward  with  the 
migration  of  the  Imperial  Court  to  Byzan- 
tium, and  flourished  there  for  a  time,  but 
soon  lost  its  prominence  as  the  Byzantine 
style  was  evolved. 

In  Europe  the  same  forces  that  replaced 
classic  architecture  with  the  Romanesque 
and  Gothic,  tended  to  dethrone  stucco  from 
its  eminence.  But  plain  plastering,  such 
as  that  described  as  carried  on  at  Mount 
Athos,  must  have  been  very  efficiently 
practised  right  through  the  Middle  Ages, 
as  is  evident  from  the  extensive  pictorial 
decoration  on  brick  and  stone  walls  and 
vaults,  which  necessitated  a  smooth,  un- 
broken surface.  With  the  Italians  some- 
thing more  than  a  mere  tradition  of  the  past 
glories  and  the  possibilities  of  stucco  must 
have  lingered,  for  right  through  the 
fifteenth  century  we  hear  of  attempts  being 
made  to  introduce  some  lasting  form  of 
plastic  material  for  mural  decoration  and 
modelling.  Donatello,  for  instance,  used 
crushed  brick  and  glue  for  modelling  statu- 
ettes    and     plaques.       Then     Bramante, 


is 


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PLASTER  WORK  185 

Raphael^  uncle  and  architectural  tutor, 
produced  a  white  plaster,  with  which  he 
embellished  houses  inside  and  outside.  It 
is  important  to  remember  this,  for  he  had 
great  influence  on  his  nephew,  and  one  of 
his  assistants  was  Jacopo  Sansovino.  To 
some  extent,  therefore,  Raphael  and  his  co- 
adjutor, Giovanni  da  Udine,  when  they 
received  the  commission  to  open  up  Nero's 
Golden  House,  were  prepared  for  a  great 
revival  in  decorative  art.  While  Raphael 
was  struck  with  the  beauty  and  variety  of 
decorative  motives,  Udine  studied  the 
stucco,  which  remained  as  hard  and  bril- 
liant as  when  first  applied.  No  doubt,  too, 
the  translation  of  Vitruvius,  manuscript  on 
the  art  of  building  put  them  on  the  right 
road,  and  so  a  very  good  imitation  of  the 
old  stucco  was  available  for  the  decoration 
of  the  Vatican  and  other  buildings  in 
Rome.  When  Raphael  died,  he  left  Guilio 
Romano  and  Giovanni  Penni  as  his  execu- 
tors, with  the  duty  of  completing  the  works 
he  had  begun.  They  had  formed  quite  an 
important  school  of  stucco  modellers  and 
painters,  which  was  dispersed  after  the 
sack  of  Rome  by  Francis  I.  of  France. 


186  CEILINGS 

Udine    went    to    Florence,    Sansovino    to 
Venice,  Romano  to  Mantua,  Pierino  del 
Vagua  to  Genoa,  where  public  buildings 
and  private  palaces  were  soon  adorned  with 
staircases  and  chamber  ceilings,  gorgeous 
with    painted    and    gilded    stucco    work. 
Every  Court  in  the  peninsular  competed 
for  masters  of  the  art.      Moreover,  the 
Courtiers  and  Generals  of  Francis,  with 
the  travelling  prelates,   spread  abroad  a 
longing  for  the  fashion.    Francis  begged  of 
the   Duke   of   Mantua   that   a   competent 
master  of  plaster  work  should  be  sent  to 
him,  and  Francesco  Primaticcio,  who  had 
graduated  in  the  school  of  Udine,  at  Flor- 
ence, went,  and  to  him  are  due  the  superb 
ceilings   and  deep   friezes  which  are  the 
chief  glory  of  Fontainebleau.    Primaticcio 
was  not  only  an  accomplished  draughts- 
man,   but   an    artist   of   merit    and    con- 
siderable originality.     His  designs  were 
classical,  and  showed  a  lavishness  in  detail, 
but  without  the  unbridled  luxuriance  of 
later  men.      In   execution   he   was   bold, 
modelling  in  high   relief,  and   as  far  as 
friezes    and    overmantles    are    concerned, 
almost  in  the  round,  especially  in  the  case 


PLASTER  WORK  187 

of  figure  work,  which  have  all  the  finish  of 
sculptures.     Influenced  by  the  old  school 
of  realists,  yet  formed  on  a  study  of  the 
antique,  he  evolved  quite  a  marked  type  of 
beauty,    his    large   and    small   semi-nude 
figures  being  tall  and  slender,  like  those 
of  Cimabue  and  his  school,  but  with  all  the 
idealism  of  classic  sculpture,  together  with 
perfect  ease  and  naturalness  of  pose  and 
grouping.      His   idea   of  beauty   for  the 
human  form  had  more  lasting  influence  on 
French  art  than  had  his  taste  in  purely 
decorative  designs,  as  we  see  if  we  compare 
the  fine  work  he,  and  other  Italian  plas- 
terers of  this  and  immediately  succeeding 
reigns,  executed  in  France,  with  the  ceil- 
ings and  friezes  to  be  seen  at  Versailles. 
Following  the  fashion  in  Italy  and  even 
outdistancing  it,  plaster  work  in  France 
became    more    and    more    sculpturesque, 
great  panels  and  deep  sunken  coffers  being 
richly    decorated,    surrounded   by    heavy 
frames,  and  the  whole  encircled  by  huge 
masses  of  far  protruding  modelled  plaster 
figures,  garlands  and  trophies. 

In  England,  plastering  came  down  from 
Roman,    if   not   pre-Roman   times.      We 


188  CEILINGS 

know  that  it  was  extensively  employed. 
Remains  of  quite  fine  plaster  have  been 
recorded  in  churches  of  the  Romanesque 
and    Transitional    periods.      It    is    quite 
obvious  that  for  domestic  buildings  it  must 
have  been  in  even  more  general  use.    We 
find,  for  instance,  that  after  the  destruction 
by  fire  of  London  Bridge,  with  its  super- 
structure of   shops   and  dwelling-houses, 
King    John    ordered    all    houses    on    the 
Thames-side,  as  well  as  all  houses  wherein 
ale  was  brewed  or  bread  was  baked,  to  be 
plastered  both  inside  and  out,  as  a  precau- 
tion against  conflagration.     This  plaster 
was  fine  enough  to  permit  of  walls  being 
painted  in  distemper,   and  later  in  oils. 
There  was  a  large  and  competent  body  of 
craftsmen-plasterers — known  as  pargeters 
— whose  guild  was  powerful  enough  to  be 
recognised    and    receive    a    charter    from 
Henry    VII.      They    used    plaster    both 
on    the    outside    and    inside    of    houses, 
covering     the      blank      spaces     on      the 
half-timbered       building       with       repeat 
patterns,    either  slightly   raised   or   with 
sunken    lines,    which   were    carved    with 
trowel  and  style,  or  impressed  by  stamps. 


PLASTER  WORK  189 

Therefore,  when  that  art  loving,  enigmatic 
personage,  Henry  VIII.,  fired  by  the  ex- 
ample of  his  rival,  Francis  L,  induced 
Luca  and  Bartolommeo  Penni,  brothers  of 
Giovanni  Penni,  to  come  to  England,  these 
Italian  experts  found  themselves  con- 
fronted by  a  native  school  of  plasterers. 
The  brothers,  with  other  of  their  compa- 
triots, were  chiefly  engaged  on  the  embel- 
lishment of  the  Palace  of  Nonsuch,  which 
Henry  built  at  Cheam.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  this  vast  pile,  with  its  two  quad- 
rangles, which  foreign  visitors  of  renown, 
as  well  as  English  connoisseurs,  regarded 
as  a  marvel  of  beauty,  and  the  very  acme 
of  refinement,  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  plaster 
work,  was  essentially  English  in  style,  for 
it  was  a  half-timbered  edifice.  This  being 
so,  it  is  possible  that  though  the  brothers 
Penni  adorned  the  King's  side  with  stucco 
figures  in  medium  relief  larger  than  life 
size,  representing  the  Labours  of  Hercules, 
and  the  Queen's  side  with  similar  figures 
of  naked  females,  in  decorative  detail,  they 
had  to  conform  to  local  taste.  That  was 
certainly  the  case  at  the  Hampton  Court 
of  both  Wolsey  and  Henry,  which  was 


i9o  CEILINGS 

almost  pure  Gothic,  with  just  a  quaint 
infusing  of  classical  detail  or  influence  here 
and  there.  In  fact,  the  brothers  Penni, 
like  Gerome  da  Trevisa,  Ricciavelli  and 
others,  found  in  England  a  strongly 
individualised  domestic  Gothic,  which 
rather  baffled  them.  They  were  even  at  a 
loss  to  provide  a  suitable  stucco,  and  had 
to  fall  back  on  a  paste  of  rye  meal.  In 
France  and  in  other  Continental  countries, 
the  Romanesque  still  prevailed  to  a  large 
extent,  and  undoubtedly  influenced  their 
domestic  Gothic,  thus  furnishing  an  easy 
path  for  the  classicism  of  the  Renaissance. 
So,  while  the  Continental  plasterers,  but 
more  particularly  the  French,  early  devel- 
oped the  florid  exaggerated  inherent  in  the 
revived  style,  our  pargeters  working 
amidst  more  distinctly  national  architec- 
tural surroundings,  and  moreover,  shut  off 
for  many  years  from  free  intercourse  with 
Italy,  elaborated  plaster  ornamentations  on 
lines  of  their  own.  They  had  learnt  from 
the  Italians  the  possibility  and  merits  of 
using  plaster  as  a  substance  to  be  moulded 
and  modelled,  but  in  the  main  they 
remained  craftsmen,  handling  the  plastic 


PLASTER  WORK  191 

material  and  colour  with  great  skill, 
though  rarely  attempting  to  follow  their 
foreign  masters  in  the  higher  flights  of 
their  art— the  sculpture  of  figures,  leaves 
and  flowers. 

Usually  they  regarded  plaster  as  a 
means  for  surface  decoration,  with  strict 
limitations,  and  did  not  attempt  to  repro- 
duce the  art  of  the  sculptor  of  stone  or  the 
carver  of  wood.  The  imitative  came  at  a 
later,  less  virile  and  less  fruitful  period. 
But  the  work  at  Nonsuch  and  Hampton 
Court  created  a  furore  for  more  decorative 
plaster  work,  especially  for  ceilings,  than 
had  been  in  vogue  with  the  old  par- 
geters. 

During  the  Tudor  period  plaster-work 
designs  were  chiefly  based  on  geometry, 
combinations  of  squares,  oblongs,  circles, 
ovals,  octagons,  diamonds,  often  inter- 
laced, forming  stars  and  intricate  laby- 
rinths. Many  of  these  squares  had  radial 
ribs  intersecting  the  points,  and  these  ribs 
were  sometimes  arched  to  form  pendants, 
reminiscent  in  design  and  elaboration  of 
the  best  stone  and  wood  carvings,  as,  in 
fact,  much  of  the  rib  work  itself  was  sug- 


i92  CEILINGS 

gested  by  the  old  timber  ceilings.  Quite 
frequently  this  elaborate  strapwork — for 
the  geometric  patterns  were  carried  out  in 
solid  or  outlined  bands,  at  first  with  slop- 
ing sides,  forming  a  sharp  apex,  and  then 
flat — was  associated  most  effectively  with 
purely  Gothic  surroundings.  For  in- 
stance, vaulted  and  groined  ceilings,  from 
which  the  floral  pendants  hung  with 
natural  grace.  Indeed,  the  pendant,  small 
and  large,  which  may  be  a  mere  swelling 
of  the  intersecting  ribs,  or  foliaged  bands 
developing  into  great  bursting  buds,  even 
pierced  d,  jour,  at  other  times  conventional 
structures,  sculptured  and  ornamented 
with  heraldic  devices,  became  a  distin- 
guishing feature  of  English  plaster  work, 
replacing  the  rose  and  mask  or  alto-rilievo 
sculptures  of  Continental  practitioners. 
Greater  variety  and  complication  came  in 
with  the  introduction  of  Celtic  curvilinear 
knot  tracery.  The  Renaissance  influence 
is  seen  in  the  occasional  resort  to  scrolls, 
but  more  particularly  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  ribs  and  strapwork  developed. 
At  first  plainly  moulded  in  the  style  of 
wood  panelling,  the  ribs  and  patterns  are 


im 


Ceiling.   Manor  House,   Boston. 


s 


j*2 


%Jnt  I 


Chapel   Ceiling.  Sir  P.   P.   Pindar's  House. 


PLASTER   WORK  193 

gradually  flattened,  the  edges  moulded, 
and  decorated  on  the  surface  with  small 
ridged  longitudinal  lines,  or  with  running 
floral  patterns,  generally  carried  out  by 
means  of  revolving  stamps,  or  dies  like 
those  used  for  marking  patterns  on  butter. 
Sometimes  the  geometric  patterns  are 
skeletonised,  as  it  were,  the  space  between 
the  two  parallel  lines  being  filled  in  with 
small  scroll  work,  a  series  of  four-leaved 
flowers,  or  leaves  close  packed,  as  in  the 
classic  type  of  wreath.  The  pendants 
themselves  may  be  architectural  in  form, 
with  small  columns,  standing  on  bases, 
capped  by  Doric  or  Corinthian  capitals, 
even  supporting  pediments  and  sheltering 
small  figures.  On  the  other  hand,  heraldry 
is  employed  with  a  medieval  freedom  of 
handling  and  feeling — coats  of  arms, 
badges  and  devices  were  welded  in  as  part 
of  the  pattern,  quite  frankly  as  essential  to 
the  scheme,  without  the  elaborate  har- 
monising frames  and  accessory  scrolls 
seeming  to  ensist  a  foreign  body,  as  is  the 
manner  of  Continental  artists,  or  as  blatant 
interferences,  quite  useless  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  design,  as  was  the  method  of 

N 


194 


CEILINGS 


our  own  late  seventeenth  century  and 
eighteenth  century  Renaissance  men.  As 
the  designs  became  more  complicatec 
colour  was  largely  abandoned,  and  in 
Elizabeth's  later  days  only  a  little  gold, 
together  with  the  vivid  heraldic  emblazon- 
ing, gave  that  touch  of  polychromism 
which  had  delighted  alike  the  medievalist 
and  the  men  of  the  early  Renaissance. 

With  the  Jacobean  period  there  came  a 
more  decided  return  to  Renaissance  ideals 
Cheek  by  jowl  with  the  native  geometrical 
and  curvilinear  knot  tracery,  ever  growing 
in  elaboration,  the  floreated  scroll  made  its 
appearance,  and  greater  use  was  made  o 
both  human  and  animal  figures.     Decora 
tive    enrichment    of    panels    was    carried 
boldly  into  the  raised  traceries,   so  tha 
every  inch  of  the  ceiling  was  covered  with 
decoration,  which  was  made  to  harmonis 
with  the  wood-panelled  walls  by  means  o 
deep  friezes,  having  between  mouldings 
masses  of  plaster  ornaments  impressed  or 
hand  modelled.     A  keen  appreciation  o 
this  art  rapidly  spread  all  over  the  country 
We  find  it  as  much  a  part  of  domestic 
architecture  in  the  South  of  England,  the 


PLASTER   WORK  195 

West  Country,  East  Anglia  and  the  North 
as  in  London  itself.  It  is  used  as  lavishly 
in  the  homes  of  wealthy  merchants  and 
prosperous  graziers  as  in  the  comfortable 
manor  houses  and  splendid  mansions  of 
the  nobility,  while  James*  courtiers  intro- 
duced it  into  Scotland,  where  it  was  wel- 
comed, being  finely  handled  by  the  Scots, 
who,  however,  never  seem  to  have  de- 
veloped a  style  of  their  own.  Jacobean 
architecture  is,  as  we  know,  a  happy  blend 
of  the  Gothic  with  the  Flemish,  touched  by 
a  reflex  action  of  the  Palladian  style,  and 
to  this,  plaster  work  was  as  naturally  allied 
as  to  the  half-timbered  houses  of  the 
immediately  preceding  age.  A  suggestion 
from  this  older  form  is  frequently  seen  in 
the  great  beams  of  the  ceilings,  which  in- 
stead of  being  concealed  were  left  apparent. 
Sometimes  they  were  slightly  carved  or 
painted,  or  were  coated  with  plaster  im- 
pressed with  running  designs,  while  the 
sunken  panels  between  were  covered  with 
decorated  plaster,  the  whole  combination 
giving  excellent  results.  Of  the  abundance 
then  produced  we  have  numerous  fair 
examples  remaining.     Indeed,   so  nume- 


196 


CEILINGS 


rous  are  these  splendid  specimens  up  and 
down  the  country  that  we  cannot  follow 
our  usual  course  and  describe  individual 
examples,  nor  would  this  serve  any  useful 
purpose,  where  general  tendencies  are  of 
more  importance. 

This  golden  age  of  native  plaster  work 
suffered  an  eclipse  in  the  following  reign, 
for  Inigo  Jones*  influence  with  Charle* 
and  his  nobility  was  the  means  of  introduc- 
ing a  still  more  decided  leaning  towards  a 
severe  classic  style.  Jones,  though  no 
slavish  copyist  of  the  Renaissance,  was  a 
thoroughgoing  admirer  of  Palladio  and  his 
school.  He  simplified  geometric  patterns, 
and  in  place  of  ornamental  strapwork 
curvilinear  design,  introduced  formal 
classic  mouldings,  superceding  arabesque 
scrolls  with  precise  foliage  arranged  in  the 
rather  stiff  style  seen  in  sculptured  monu- 
ments and  bronzes  of  the  ancients.  The 
carving,  or  rather  moulding,  for  a  more 
mechanical  method  had  ousted  hand  model- 
ling, was  distinct,  but  the  mass  of 
decorated  plaster  was  generally  kept  low 
and  arranged  in  frames  surrounding  large 
and  small  panels  reserved,  as  a  rule,  for 


PLASTER  WORK  197 

paintings.  His  decorative  taste  though 
formal  was  pure,  harmonising  well  with 
his  stately  architecture.  His  imitators, 
however,  became  far  too  formal,  replacing 
Jones'  natural  flowers  and  leaves  with  not 
over  pleasing  conventionalised  forms, 
blemished,  moreover,  by  the  inappropriate 
classic  trophies  (breastplates,  greaves, 
helmets,  lictors'  bundles  of  rods  and  axes 
and  Roman  standards),  and  unmeaning 
architectural  details.  An  undoubted  dete- 
rioration followed  the  increasing  use  of 
mould  and  stamped  decorations,  prepared 
elsewhere  and  then  fixed  to  the 
ceilings.  With  the  purely  formal  mould- 
ings of  Jones  this  procedure  could  be 
resorted  to  safely  enough,  but  it  was  other- 
wise when  greater  exuberance  came  in, 
and  when  plaster  was  applied  in  heavier 
masses. 

Puritan  feeling  under  the  latter  part  of 
the  reign,  and  under  the  Commonwealth, 
tended  towards  excessive  simplification, 
and  the  little  plaster  work  of  this  period 
was  of  the  severely  straightforward  strap- 
work  type  in  conjunction  with  plain  panels 
between  ceiling  beams. 


198  CEILINGS 

A  rebound  came  with  Charles  II.  Sir 
Christopher  Wren,  although  quite  as 
classic  in  feeling  as  Inigo  Jones,  brought  a 
gayer,  freer  note.  He  frankly  discarded 
old  Tudor  traditions,  using  large  panels 
with  broad,  heavy  frames  of  deeply  carved 
plaster,  sometimes  in  the  form  of  compli- 
cated mouldings  with  decorated  hollows 
and  headings,  but  more  commonly  com- 
posed of  masses  of  flowers  and  leaves.  He 
used  the  oak,  bay  and  acanthus  largely, 
but  his  whole  floral  design  is  away  from 
the  conventional,  and  a  direct  reproduction 
of  Nature.  His  workers  were  both  Italians 
and  Englishmen,  like  Grinling  Gibbons, 
who,  however,  were  all  imbued  with  the 
Renaissance  feeling,  in  which  a  reminis- 
cence of  arabesques  is  curiously  mixed  with 
very  close  studies  of  Nature.  Some  figure 
work  was  introduced,  though  development 
in  this  direction  was  left  to  his  successors. 

After  Wren  came  a  constant  stream  of 
Italian  artists  and  Italianated-Englishmen, 
who  forced  the  classical  note,  overburden- 
ing their  ceilings  with  massive,  deeply 
undercut  scrolls,  arabesques  and  frames, 
the  panels  large  and  small  being  filled  in 


PLASTER   WORK  199 

with  paintings  and  miniatures.  Plasterers 
became  essentially  carvers,  and,  while 
much  of  the  detail  was  exquisite,  indivi- 
dual flowers  and  fruits  being  perfect  of 
their  kind,  the  general  scheme  of  design 
suffered.  Colour  was  once  more  the  rage. 
With  plaster,  however,  it  is  mostly  a  ques- 
tion of  feeble  washes,  with  deeper  tones 
and  gilding  for  enrichments.  Full-bodied 
colour  is  used  in  the  heavy  mouldings,  and 
on  certain  coved  ceilings  ornamented  with 
deep  coffers,  bearing  a  raised  flower  or  star 
in  their  centres.  Elaborate  figure  carving 
for  both  ceilings  and  friezes  became  the 
rule.  Alas  !  the  work  is  almost  always 
without  the  vigour  of  a  Sansovino  or  the 
grace  of  a  Primaticcio.  The  human  form, 
especially  the  favourite,  nol  to  say  fashion- 
able, amorini,  grew  chubby,  with  a  sug- 
gestion of  the  squat,  so  sliding  into  the 
uninterestingly  vulgar.  This  frenzy  for 
over-elaboration,  for  loading  ceilings  with 
great  sprawling  masses  of  tortured  plaster, 
was  abated  for  a  time  by  a  return  to 
rectangular  formalism  under  William  III. 
and  Queen  Anne.  Indeed,  in  minor  build- 
ings in  the  Queen  Anne  style,  which  was 


2oo  CEILINGS 


a  con- 


a  semi-Dutch,  semi-Jacobean,  had 
siderable  vogue.  Italian  influence  domi- 
nated in  the  long  run,  and  under  such  men 
as  William  Kent  and  his  followers  the 
bastardised  Renaissance  ornamentation 
was  carried  very  far. 

All  this,  however,  was  extremely  costly, 
so  there  was  a  tendency  to  revert  to  a 
Puritan  lack  of  decoration  amidst  semi- 
classic  surroundings,  which  sounded  a 
note  of  incongruity.  The  result  was  that  a 
new  school  arose,  preferring  to  go  back  for 
inspiration  to  the  masterpieces  of  Greece 
and  Rome.  Prominent  in  the  vanguard  of 
this  movement  were  the  Adam  brothers, 
who  drew  constant  supplies  of  classic 
drawings  from  correspondents  in  Italy. 
Robert  Adam's  claim  to  recognition  as  a 
reformer  and  as  a  contributor  to  our  art 
progress,  rests  chiefly  on  his  insistence 
upon  a  building  being  treated  as  a  whole 
by  the  architect,  who,  he  held,  should  de- 
sign the  decorative  scheme  to  suit  the  shell. 
So  he  not  only  drew  plans  and  elevations, 
but  designed  doors,  fireplaces,  mural  and 
ceiling  decorations,  and  even  furniture. 
Unfortunately  he  had  studied  in  Italy  the 


PLASTER   WORK  201 

school  of  Renaissance  in  its  third  stage  of 
decadence,  when  the  exuberance  following 
on  Raphael's  effort  and  the  almost  foetid 
exaggeration  following  on  that,  had  given 
place  to  the  puerilities  of  exhaustion. 
With  Adam  and  his  numberless  imitators 
(among  whom  we  may  single  out  Colin 
Campbell  and  Richardson)  we  have  the  low 
relief  frames  and  conventional  floral  pat- 
terns or  classic  mouldings.  These  enclosed 
panels  filled  with  miniature  paintings, 
while  the  free  spaces  are  covered  over  with 
a  meander  of  scroll  and  arabesque  work, 
either  in  low  relief  or  merely  painted,  gen- 
erally in  tertiary  colours  on  muddy-tinted 
washes,  intended,  no  doubt,  to  throw  up 
the  miniatures  of  Angelica  Kaufrmann  and 
lesser  lights,  though  actually  having  the 
effect  of  making  their  brilliant  colouring 
positively  garish.  But,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  for  one  Angelica  Kauffmann  there 
were  hundreds  of  poor  draughtsmen  and 
wretched  daubers,  who  covered  their  ceil- 
ings with  a  motley  crowd  of  nudities  only 
fit  for  the  attention  of  the  pathologist,  as 
we  see  in  so  many  of  the  Campbell  and 
Richardson  productions,    This  school  had 


202 


CEILINGS 


a  weakness  for  pentagons  and  octagons 
irregnlar  formation,  often  with  incurved, 
outlines,  and  also  for  fluted  fan  ornaments 
placed  in  angles  of  rooms  or  alcoves.  Adam 
used  plaster  for  the  flat  spaces,  but  a  secret 
composition  for  his  stucco  ornaments ;  this 
gave  him  a  practical  monopoly  for  the  less 
expensive  type  of  work.  The  secret  was 
ultimately  discovered,  opening  up  wide 
competition.  Meanwhile  a  class  of  plaster 
moulders  in  situ,  and  producers  of  mould- 
ings, sprang  up,  who  showed  considerable 
manipulative  skill,  among  these  being  the 
Roses,  a  London  firm,  though  they  carried 
out  work  for  Richardson  and  others  all 
over  the  country.  The  craftsmanship  was 
good.  Unfortunately  it  was  divorced  from 
invention,  these  modern  craftsmen,  unlike 
their  Tudor  and  Jacobean  forerunners, 
having  to  depend  for  designs  on  artists 
whose  pretensions  were  in  inverso  ratio  to 
their  good  taste  and  their  ability  to 
construct  a  reasonable  scheme  of  decora- 
tion. 

Some  idea  of  the  general  prevalence  of 
fine  art  plaster  work  in  the  mansions  of  the 
eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  centuries 


■ 

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PLASTER    WORK  203 

may  be  gathered  from  glancing  over  the 
illustrations  of  Mr  Chandler's  "Private 
Palaces  of  London.' ' 

We  have  mentioned  that  the  Penni 
brothers  when  decorating  the  Palace  of 
Nonsuch  are  credited  with  having  used  a 
paste  of  rye  flour.  This  was,  in  fact,  a 
form  of  gesso.  The  Italians  had  long  used 
colour  pastes,  gesso  sottile,  a  mixture  of 
whiting  in  a  gluey  medium,  and  gesso 
duro,  a  mixture  of  plaster  and  glue.  The 
former  was  applied  with  a  brush  to  form 
slightly  raised  enrichments  ;  the  latter  was 
applied  more  as  a  pliable  paste.  These 
were  often  coloured  before  application, 
during  the  process  of  mixing,  the  process 
thus  corresponding  to  the  methods  of 
Donatello  and  those  employed  by  the 
Egyptians,  who  used  tinted  clays  to 
decorate  mummy  cases  and  so  on.  Gesso 
was  largely  employed  throughout  the 
Renaissance  period,  and  was  revived  in  the 
nineteenth  century  by  such  decorative 
artists  as  Walter  Crane  (who  boiled  one 
part  of  powdered  resin  in  four  parts  of  lin- 
seed oil  and  six  parts  of  glue,  and  then 
added  enough  whiting — previously  soaked 


2o4  CEILINGS 

in  water — to  form  a  thick  cream), 
others  used  the  same  mixture,  but  without 
the  resin,  or  plaster  dissolved  in  glue  with 
a  little  oil.  This  was  applied  with  a  brush, 
either  previously  tinted  or  to  be  painted 
after  application.  One  method  of  using 
gesso  was  to  lay  on  successive  layers, 
making  a  raised  block  within  the  outlines 
of  any  figure,  and  then  scraping  away 
superfluous  material  with  a  kind  of  scalpel, 
so  that  it  combines  the  arts  of  the  painter 
and  the  sculptor.  In  old  practice,  where 
high  relief  was  needed,  if  the  foundation 
was  wood,  this  was  carved  away  so  as  to 
leave  rounded  surfaces,  or  rough  ingross- 
ments  of  the  design,  which  were 
afterwards  covered  with  gesso;  or  the 
foundation  might  be  of  coarse  plaster, 
covered  with  gesso.  It  will  be  seen  that 
method  differed  with  stucco  work,  though 
its  result  in  low  and  medium  relief  was 
much  the  same,  but  with  softer  outlines. 
Other  variations  were  compositions  of 
different  descriptions  used  in  moulds  to 
produce  light  castes;  or  carton  pierre, 
that  is  a  form  of  papier  mach£,  thin  paper 
being  soaked  in  glue  until  almost  a  paste 


PLASTER   WORK  205 

and  then  pressed  in  successive  layers  into 
moulds.  Casts  thus  produced  were 
extremely  light,  took  coloured  varnish 
well  and  were  easy  to  fix  on  ceilings  or 
friezes. 

If  we  take  a  broad  survey  of  plaster  work 
in  England  we  find  three  schools.  First 
we  have  the  Tudor  or  Jacobean  periods, 
characterised  by  geometrical  foundation  in 
design,  carried  out  in  medium  or  high 
relief  by  means  of  broad  bands,  curvilinear 
tracings,  with  floral  additions,  a  compara- 
tive moderate  use  of  the  human  figure,  of 
birds  and  beasts,  but  on  occasions  a  lavish 
resort  to  heraldic  embellishments.  Then 
we  have  the  classic  sculpturesque  style, 
formal  and  restrained  with  Inigo  Jones, 
florid  with  Christopher  Wren,  and 
exuberant  with  their  successors.  Finally 
the  decadent  style  represented  by  Adam 
and  Richardson. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  it  first 
lent  itself  admirably  to  domestic  architec- 
ture, it  was  easy  for  it  to  be  suited  to  the 
needs  of  each  milieu.  A  simple,  open 
pattern  in  low  relief  for  small,  low,  plain 
rooms;  greater  freedom  of  outline,  with 


2o6  CEILINGS 


enriched  members  of  considerable  projec- 
tion— even  developing  into  monumental 
pendants — for  lofty  rooms  of  great  extent. 
Grafted  on  to  a  Tudor  Gothic  and  the  later 
Jacobean  and  modified  Dutch  Queen 
Anne,  it  is  really,  in  its  simplified  form, 
at  home  amidst  almost  all  surroundings. 
It  is  far  otherwise  with  the  sculpturesque 
style,  which  is  only  adapted  to  large  anc 
lofty  rooms  of  considerable  pretensions, 
and  even  then  looks  heavy  unless  the  wal 
decorations  and  furnishing  are  in  keeping. 
As  for  the  decadent  style,  it  is  finicking 
and  tiresome,  at  its  best  only  suitable  for 
a  boudoir  or  a  breakfast-room.  Even  when 
refined  by  a  severe  process  of  elimination 
and  inspiration  from  the  formalism  of 
Inigo  Jones — a  combination,  if  we  accept  a 
few  characteristic  ornaments,  practically 
forming  the  Empire  style — it  is  too 
precise,  too  u  genteel  "  to  be  accepted  as 
satisfactory. 


CHAPTER  XI 

EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS 

We  have  already  dealt  in  general  terms 
with  the  custom  of  painting  ceilings,  both 
with  conventional  patterns  and  finished 
pictures.  As  we  have  shown,  probably  the 
earliest  attempts  along  this  particular  line 
of  decoration  were  the  representations  of 
the  ceilings  as  the  firmament,  with  twink- 
ling stars,  to  which  were  later  added  sym- 
bols of  the  Zodiac.  This  naturally  led  to  \ 
fuller  development  of  the  idea,  the  Greeks 
showing  us  the  denizens  of  Olympus  and 
the  Romans  glimpses  of  their  more  widely 
embracing  Pantheon.  The  Roman  love  for 
their  gardens  soon  suggested  the  trellis 
work  with  trailing  vines,  of  architectural 
figures,  such  as  columns  and  pilaster 
united  by  pediments  and  cross  beams,  each 
bearing  clusters  of  flowers,  leaves  and 
207 


2oS  CEILINGS 


fruit,  so  that  in  the  end  we  had  both  med- 
leys of  horticultural  and  fantastic  orna- 
ments, "  like  an  Italian  garden,"  as 
already  quoted. 

While  early  western  Christian  art  was 
rather  restrained  as  regards  the  introduc- 
tion of  figures  and  "  set  pieces  "  for  ceiling 
decoration,  it  was  otherwise  with  the 
Byzantine  artists,  who,  however,  had  their 
own  hard  and  fast  rules,  far  removed  from 
classic  practice.  But  they  treated  both 
walls  and  ceilings  as  broad  spaces  suitable 
for  pictorial  decoration.  Their  methods 
persisted  for  many  centuries,  and  afford  a 
link  with  the  early  Egyptian  decorators. 
Robert  Hendrie,  who  wrote  at  once  as  a 
chemist  and  painter  of  no  mean  attain- 
ments, in  the  introduction  to  his  transla- 
tion of  M  An  Essay  upon  various  Arts,  in 
three  books  of  Theophilus,  called  also 
Rugerus,  priest  and  monk  of  the  Eleventh 
Century,"  gives  many  interesting  particu- 
lars of  painting  in  fresco  and  tempera.  He 
quotes  Didron  on  the  methods  of  painting 
on  walls,  as  pursued  by  the  monks  at 
Mount  Athos.  Briefly,  the  artist  monk 
had    assistant    monk    painters    and    boy 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    209 

apprentices.  Two  coats  of  lime  were  laid 
on  the  wall;  firstly,  half  an  inch  of  very 
fine  mortar  mixed  with  chopped  straw; 
secondly,  a  mere  pellicle  of  the  finest  mor- 
tar mixed  with  cotton  or  flax.  Three  days 
were  allowed  for  the  two  coats  to  dry,  then 
the  master  lightly  outlined  the  design  in 
red.  An  assistant  followed,  filling  in  the 
outlines  with  black  pigment.  On  this  a 
superior  assistant  traced  the  draperies  and 
ornaments,  and  formed  nimbuses  round 
sainted  heads.  Once  more  the  master 
appeared,  coating  all  the  flesh  parts  with 
brown,  then  with  yellow  deadened  with 
black,  and  a  second  coat  of  yellow  to 
lighten  the  flesh,  and  a  final  coat  of  very 
light  yellow,  though  all  through  shadows 
were  left  black  or  lightened  with  one  or 
more  yellow  washes,  thus  depth  being 
secured.  The  shadows  were  outlined  with 
blue  and  painted  over  with  green,  and  a 
rose  colour  completed  the  main  part;  the 
lips,  eyes,  hair  being  filled  in  nearly  the 
last.  All  this  time  the  nimbus  was  used 
as  a  palette,  on  which  the  artist  tried  the 
effect  of  his  colours.  Three  days  were 
allowed  for  the  colours  to  dry,  and  then  the 

o 


2io  CEILINGS 

nimbus  and  parts  of  ornamentation  were 
gilded.  Rectifications  and  even  consider- 
able modifications  of  design  were  possible 
almost  to  the  last  stage. 

This  is,  of  course,  what  in  modern  times 
has  been  named  tempera  painting  (the  art 
side  of  distempering),  and  is  what  was 
practised  in  ancient  Egypt,  Babylonia, 
Nineveh,  Greece  and  Rome.  It  involved 
the  mixing  of  the  pigments  with  a  glutin- 
ous medium  (that  is,  white  of  eggy  size  or 
gum)  to  prevent  the  colours  sinking  and 
fading  away,  or  running  one  into  the  other. 
Many  preparations  have  been  advocated  by 
different  schools.  As  a  rule  the  Italians 
added  the  milky  sap  of  fig  trees j  the  Ger- 
mans had  resort  to  a  mixture  of  vinegar 
and  honey.  The  characteristic  of  tempera 
is  sharpness  of  outline  and  some  hardness, 
for  the  colours  dry  quickly  and  there  is  no 
blending,  except  by  direct  mixing,  or  by 
the  working  of  one  transparent  colour  over 
another.  In  later  times  it  became  the 
fashion  to  protect  tempera  with  an  oil 
varnish,  giving  the  finished  work  much  of 
the  quality  of  oil  painting,  with  its  depth 
and  brilliancy. 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    211 

These  qualities  of  depth  and  brilliancy 
were  attained  by  the  ancients  with  an 
encaustic  method,  in  which  pigments  were 
mixed  with  melted  wax  or  resins,  applied 
hot  to  plaster,  stone  or  wood.  It  is,  how- 
ever, one  of  the  lost  arts,  and  the  exact 
procedure  is  unknown.  Of  late  it  has  been 
suggested  that  the  softened  coloured  waxes 
were  placed  on  the  surface  and  spread  by 
means  of  heated  spatulas,  thus  securing  a 
certain  amount  of  blending. 

At  the  Renaissance  a  close  study  of 
classic  art  treasures  led  to  at  least  a  partial 
discovery  of  what  contributed  to  the  dura- 
bility and  beauty  of  ancient  plaster.  It 
was  found  that  the  top  coating  consisted 
entirely  of,  or  contained  much  fine  marble 
dust.  This  was  the  quick-drying  stucco, 
which  hardened  with  a  bright  polished  sur- 
face. It  was  discovered,  too,  that  if  this 
substance,  or  any  nearly  pure  lime  plaster, 
was  painted  on  while  wet,  a  permanent 
stain  resulted,  and  the  painting  retained  a 
softness  and  limpidity  unattainable  by  any 
other  method.  This  is  fresco  painting,  and 
requires  great  skill,  because  rapidity  of 
execution    is    absolutely    necessary,    and 


212 


CEILINGS 


retouching  can  only  be  carried  out  spar- 
ingly with  tempera  colours.  The  usual 
preparation  for  fresco  painting  is  to  use  a 
fine  plaster  of  slaked  lime  (matured  for  at 
least  a  year)  mixed  with  sand.  Over  this 
a  thin  layer  of  very  fine  plaster  is  spread, 
and  as  quickly  as  possible  a  third  layer  is 
added,  but  only  as  much  surface  being  laid 
on  as  can  be  painted  in  one  day.  The 
design  is  usually  drawn  with  charcoal  on 
cartoons  and  then  pounced  or  pricked  on 
the  surface  to  be  painted.  Only  earth  and 
mineral  pigments  are  used,  ground  in 
water,  and  are  laid  on  rapidly,  sinking  in. 
The  process  of  drying  is  effected  by  car- 
bonic acid  formed  in  the  plaster,  expelling 
the  water  in  the  form  of  vapour,  and  during 
this  process  a  thin  coating  of  carbonate  of 
lime  is  formed  on  the  surface  protecting 
the  colours.  It  is  not  possible  to  add  wash 
upon  wash,  as  this  produces  "  sweating," 
and  a  disintegration  of  the  plaster.  Colours 
are  always  to  be  prepared  several  shades 
darker  than  are  required  in  the  finished 
picture,  because  the  colours  lighten  during 
the  process  of  drying.  All  the  top  plaster 
not  painted  upon  during  the  day  has  to  be 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    213 

carefully  cut  away,  and  a  new  layer  as 
carefully  laid  on  when  the  next  day's  work 
is  being  taken  in  hand.  Touching  up, 
must,  as  we  have  said,  be  carried  out  a 
secco,  but  this  part  of  the  work  is  not  per- 
manent and  detracts  from  the  purity  and 
transparency  of  the  rest  of  the  colour. 

It  was  in  this  fresco  medium  that  Michel 
Angelo,  Raphael,  and  all  the  great  men  of 
the  Renaissance,  down  to  the  end  of  the 
Cinquecento,  painted  their  walls  and  ceil- 
ings, practically  ousting  tempera  for  all 
better-class  work,  for  the  results  attained 
outweighed  the  tremendous  difficulties 
involved.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that 
for  ambitious  decorative  art  work,  this  is 
a  medium  only  suited  to  those  who  are  at 
once  masters  of  outline  and  colour,  and 
possessors  of  quite  specialised  dexterity. 
In  the  hands  of  the  mediocre,  except  where 
board  effects  with  washes  and  simple  con- 
ventionalised patterns  are  sought,  it  is  a 
fatal  medium.  A  return  to  tempera  for 
general  use  was  inevitable.  But  for  a  time 
both  methods  were  obscured,  when  towards 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  colours 
began  to  be  ground  in  oils  and  applied  in 


2i4  CEILINGS 

thin  or  thick  washes.  This  enabled  even 
poorer  surfaces  than  those  required  for 
tempera  to  be  used,  and  the  artist  could 
work  at  his  ease,  take  his  leisure,  secure 
almost  the  same  limpidity  as  with  fresco, 
and  all  that  richness  and  brilliancy  the  lost 
encaustic  method  gave. 

Both  tempera  and  oil  painting  suffered 
from  the  disadvantage  of  pealing  or  flaking 
off  under  certain  conditions,  such  as  damp- 
ness penetrating  to  the  plaster  from  out- 
side, dessication  of  the  surface  under  great 
heat  or  chemical  action. 

It  will  be  impossible  in  a  work  of  this 
kind  to  give  anything  approaching  a  cata- 
logue raxsonni  of  pictorial  ceilings.  We 
can  only  deal  with  general  tendencies,  refer 
to  typical  specimens.  As  we  have  seen, 
during  the  pre-Christian  era,  the  treatment 
of  ceilings  was  almost  purely  decorative, 
with  the  comparatively  rare  admission  of 
more  realistic  treatment  of  the  heavens,  or 
overhead  gardens.  In  early  Christian  art 
figures  and  even  scenes  were  admitted,  but 
the  treatment  was  conventional,  the  figures 
being  somewhat  angular,  flat,  and  without 
any  attempt  at  foreshortening,  and  per- 
spective was  neglected.     Towarda  the  end 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    215 

of  the  Middle  Ages  the  treatment  was 
bolder,  with  decided  leaning  towards  real- 
ism, but  the  composition  was  usually  poor. 
Figures  mostly  appeared  as  isolated 
studies,  even  when  grouping  was  attempted 
there  was  little  cohesion  in  the  scheme, 
practically  no  shading. 

Just  prior  to  the  Renaissance,  realism  was 
beginning  to  be  softened  by  imagination, 
by  that  selective  and  emphasising  faculty 
of  the  artist,  whose  aim  it  was  to  represent 
the  outer  world  as  it  impressed  itself  upon 
his  mind.  It  was  a  return  to  that  power 
and  finish  brought  to  such  high  perfection 
in  the  best  period  of  Greek  art.  Perugino 
was  one  of  the  first  masters  to  display  skill 
in  applying  his  knowledge  of  perspective 
and  appreciation  of  distance.  With  these 
acquisitions,  a  study  of  anatomy,  a  bolder 
treatment  of  the  human  form,  and  recogni- 
tion that  the  position  to  be  occupied  by  the 
picture  relative  to  the  spectator  had  to  be 
taken  into  consideration,  great  strides 
were  made.  Pictures  were  considered  as  a 
whole,  the  balancing  of  composition, 
natural  grouping,  and  foreshortening  be- 
came   necessary.      While   the    Byzantine 


216  CEILINGS 

generally  treated  pictures  on  walls  and 
ceilings  as  miniatures,  framed  by  running 
patterns  or  highly  decorative  designs,  the 
medievalists  covered  more  space,  and  were 
content  with  modest  framings.  With  the 
Renaissance  pictorial  treatment  was  gener- 
ally advanced,  but  it  coincided  with  a  very 
vigorous  cultivation  of  decorative  access- 
ories, and  we  find  both  large  and  small 
pictures  on  ceilings  treated  as  separate 
works  to  be  set  off  by  gorgeous  mouldings 
and  arabesques.  We  see  this  even  in  the 
work  of  Michel  Angelo  and  Raphael.  In 
Michel  Angelo 's  superb  work  on  the  ceil- 
ing of  the  Sistine  Chapel,  unity  is  given 
to  the  whole  scheme,  embracing  a  large 
number  of  pictures,  by  treating  the  space 
architecturally.  The  columns,  arches, 
entablatures  and  sculpturesque  figures  pro- 
vide the  necessary  link.  With  Raphael's 
work  at  the  Vatican,  in  the  Loggia  and 
Stanze,  or  State  Apartments,  this  unity  is 
attained  chiefly  by  a  lavish  use  of  sym- 
bolism, the  great  wealth  of  arabesques  and 
decorative  items  being  directly  connected 
with  the  scenes  depicted.  Even  foliated 
scroll  work,  surcharged  as  it  often  is  with 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    217 

grotesques,  is  treated  in  a  way  to  carry  the 
eye  from  scene  to  scene,  merely  emphasis- 
ing the  break  to  separate  event  from  event, 
while  keeping  up  the  sense  of  continuity. 
In  the  Stanze  this  exuberance  of  decoration 
is  not  so  noticeable  as  it  is  in  the  Loggia. 
On  the  ceiling  of  the  first  of  the  chambers, 
the  Camera  della  Segnatura,  great  medal- 
lions are  filled  with  beautiful  figures  repre- 
senting ' '  Theology, "  "  Philosophy, '  ■ 
* '  Poetry  ' '  and  ' '  Justice. ' '  In  the  Stanza 
derEliodoro  the  ceiling  is  adorned  with 
four  large  panels  representing  the  promises 
of  the  Almighty  to  Noah,  to  Abraham,  to 
Jacob  and  to  Moses.  Raphael  treated  his 
subjects  with  considerable  liberty  with  a 
view  to  decorative  effect  and  the  position 
occupied  by  the  pictures.  For  instance,  in 
the  first  panel  Noah's  children  are  shown 
quite  young,  thus  permitting  delightful 
grouping.  In  the  Abraham  panel  in  place 
of  the  usual  ram  entangled  in  bushes,  we 
see  an  angel  flying  down  to  arrest  the 
patriarch's  uplifted  arm  with  the  knife, 
while  a  second  angel  floats  down  bearing  a 
lamb  in  his  arms.  Both  in  the  Jacob  and 
Moses  panels,  accessories  are  simplified  in 


2i8  CEILINGS 

order  to  give  a  striking  central  motive. 
The  stucco  framing  of  the  panels  is 
extremely  rich.  Thirty-two  small  car- 
touches bear  allegorical  pictures  to  connect 
the  great  pictures  with  the  scenes  from  the 
Apocrypha  painted  on  the  walls.  In  the 
centre  of  the  ceiling  are  the  arms  of  Pope 
Julius  II.  surrounded  by  elaborate  floral 
designs,  while  most  fanciful  arabesques 
spread  over  the  rest  of  the  ceiling,  knitting 
the  whole  together.  In  the  frames  we  see 
twice  repeated  two  winged  boys  supporting 
the  arms  of  Julius  II.  The  colouring  is 
very  rich,  gold  frames  on  light  blue 
ground,  relieved  by  pinkish  brown  and 
chocolate  brown  ornaments.  In  the  fres- 
coes the  sky  is  dark  blue,  the  flesh  rather 
browny  red,  and  strong  colourings  form 
the  scenery  and  drapery.  In  the  Stanze 
dell  Incendio  the  ceiling  is  a  glorification  of 
the  Trinity  by  Perugino.  The  ceiling  of 
the  Sala  Constantina  was  probably  exe- 
cuted by  Raphael's  pupils  and  Sodoma.  It 
represents  a  triumph  of  Christianity  over 
paganism.  On  the  pendentives  are  Italian 
landscapes,  and  lunettes  are  filled  with 
allegorical  figures. 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    219 

In  most  of  these  instances  the  subjects 
are  sufficiently  conventionalised  not  to  out- 
rage the  feeling  for  appropriateness,  and 
the  same  can  be  said  of  the  ceiling  pictures 
by  Cimabue,  Correggio,  and  to  some  extent 
of  Paul  Veronese.  But  the  tendency  to 
decorate  ceilings  with  elaborate  pictures 
without  much  regard  to  subject  and  due 
treatment  in  respect  to  their  position  grew 
apace.  Moreover,  there  was  also  an  in- 
creasing neglect  of  unity,  and  consequently 
we  find  ceilings  divided  up  by  exquisite 
stucco  embellishments,  in  which  pictorial 
gems  suited  for  walls  of  for  easel  pieces,  are 
enchased.  This  was  very  noticeable  with 
the  combined  work  of  Sansovino,  Paul 
Veronese  and  Tintoretto  in  Venice,  and 
with  that  of  their  successors.  For  instance, 
on  the  ceiling  of  the  Grand  Council  Cham- 
ber in  the  Ducal  Palace  most  elaborate, 
beautifully  moulded  and  coloured  stucco  is 
used  to  frame  fifteen  panels,  in  which  Tin- 
toretto, Paul  Veronese,  Francesco  Bassano 
and  others,  represent  the  glorious  feats  of 
arms  of  the  Republic  of  Venice.  The 
series  is  continued  in  the  Hall  of  Scrutiny, 
the  same  treatment  being  followed.     But 


220  CEILINGS 

the  natural  desire  is  to  take  these  down  and 
place  them  within  comfortable  visual  range 
on  the  walls.  Quite  a  different  effect  was 
achieved  by  Paul  Veronese  with  his  Venice 
and  St  Mark  glorified  in  Heaven.  That 
is  a  splendid  piece  of  decorative  painting, 
quite  suitable  for  placing  on  a  ceiling.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  this  artist's  Venice 
Enthroned,  of  which  Ruskin  says  "  one  of 
the  grandest  pieces  of  frank  colour  in  the 
Ducal  Palace/ '  and  certainly  most  skil- 
fully designed  for  its  position. 

Another  of  his  pieces  in  this  style  is  his 
Olympus  on  the  cupola  of  an  irregular 
octagon  at  the  Villa  Barbara.  It  is  a 
crowded  composition,  in  which  we  see  fine 
nude  and  semi-nude  divinities  disporting 
themselves  amidst  fleecy  clouds,  the  strong 
muscularity  of  the  gods  contrasting  with 
the  soft  outlines  and  flesh  colouring  of  the 
goddesses  and  juveniles,  a  composition  in 
which  perspective  and  foreshortening  are  a 
delight  to  all  beholders.  Returning  to 
Venice  and  the  Palace  of  its  Doges,  we  can 
but  admire,  from  this  special  point  of  view, 
and,  indeed,  despite  criticism,  for  its  gen- 
eral outstanding  merits  the  central  panel 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    221 

on  the  ceiling  of  the  Sala  dei  Pregadi, 
where  Tintoretto  has  S3^mbolised  Venice  as 
Queen  of  the  Seas.  "  Notable,' '  says 
Ruskin,  "  for  the  sweep  of  its  vast  green 
surges,  and  for  the  daring  character  of  its 
entire  conception,  though  it  is  wild  and 
careless,  and  in  many  respects  unworthy  of 
the  master.  Note  the  way  in  which  he  has 
used  the  fantastic  forms  of  the  sea-weeds 
with  respect  to  his  love  of  the  grotesque.' ' 
A  Paul  Veronese  of  more  doubtful  value 
as  a  ceiling  decoration  is  the  Triumph  of 
Venice  filling  the  central  panel  of  the 
Council  Chamber  of  the  Ten.  Lanzi, 
amazed  at  the  skill  with  which  the  crowded 
design  is  handled  and  the  excellence  of 
detail  work,  describes  it  in  enthusiastic 
language.  He  says  that  Venice  is  shown 
"  in  regal  attire,  crowned  by  Glory,  cele- 
brated by  Fame  and  attended  by  Honour, 
Liberty  and  Peace.  Juno  and  Ceres  are 
seen  assisting  at  the  spectacle,  as  symbols 
of  grandeur  and  felicity.  The  summit  is 
decorated  with  specimens  of  magnificent 
architecture  and  with  columns,  while  lower 
down  appears  a  great  concourse  of  ladies 
with  their  lords  and  sons  in  various  splen- 


222  CEILINGS 

did  habits,  all  represented  in  a  gallery; 
and  on  the  ground  are  warriors  on  their 
chargers,    arms,    ensigns,    prisoners   and 
captives  of  war.  This  oval  picture  presents 
us  with  a  view  of  those  powers  with  which 
Paul  so  much  fascinated  the  eye,  producing 
a  general  effect  altogether  enchanting,  and 
including    numerous    parts    all    equally 
beautiful,  bright  aerial  spaces,  sumptuous 
edifices,  which  seem  to  invite  the  foot  of 
the  spectator,    lively   features,   dignified, 
selected  for  the  most  part  from  nature,  and 
embellished  by  art.      Add  to  these  very 
graceful  motions,   fine  contrasts  and  ex- 
pression,   noble   vestments,   both   for  the 
shape  and  the  materials  .   .   .  perspective 
that  gives  distance  to  objects  without  dis- 
pleasing us  when  near,  the  most  charming 
colours,  which,   whether  similar  or  con- 
trasted harmonised  with  a  peculiar  degree 
of  art  not  to  be  taught.' '  All  of  which  is 
very  true,  but  for  its  full  enjoyment  man 
must  abrogate  the  dignity  of  his  erect  posi- 
tion, to  lie  flat  on  his  back,  or  otherwise 
risk  dislocation  of  his  neck ;  in  either  case 
scarcely  conducing  to  a  proper  frame  of 
mind  for  the  appreciation  of  a  work  of  art. 


EARLY  PICTORIAL  CEILINGS    223 

Moreover,  all  such  crowded  compositions, 
with  heavy  architecture,  restive  chargers 
tramping  over  terra  firma,  impress  the 
unreality  too  obtrusively  on  the  mind. 
Admire  them  though  we  may  as  the  fine 
productions  of  masters,  they  are  examples 
to  be  eschewed,  as  dangerous  to  all  but 
giants,  and  adding  little  even  to  their 
credit. 


CHAPTER  XII 

PICTORIAL  CEILINGS  IN  ENGLAND 

Although  we  hear  of  mural  painting  in 
Medieval  England,  we  have  no  evidence  or 
pictorially  decorated  church  vaults  or 
palace  ceilings  such  as  we  have  in  plenty 
in  other  European  countries.  Excellent 
carvers  and  colourists  we  had  at  work  in 
great  fanes  and  humble  parish  churches, 
but  such  painters  of  genre  as  we  had  in  our 
midst  scarcely  turned  their  attention  to 
ceilings. 

It  is  to  foreign  wielders  of  the  brush, 
quite  late  in  our  artistic  development,  that 
we  owe  the  recognition  of  ceilings  as  avail- 
able for  pictorial  treatment,  a  step  which 
proved  anything  but  an  advance.  Holbein, 
who  designed  the  ceiling  in  the  Chapel 
Royal,  St  James'  Palace,  is  credited  by 
Samuel  Pepys  with  having  also  painted 
certain  gallery  ceilings  in  the  Whitehall 
224 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       225 

Palace  of  Henry  VIIL,  then  (August  1668) 
in  a  most  dilapidated  condition.  The 
diarist  laments  the  general  decay,  declar- 
ing it  was  a  "  pity  to  see  Holbein's  work 
on  the  ceiling  blotted  on,  and  only  [all?] 
whited  over."  No  records,  however,  exist 
of  Holbein  working  here,  and  as  our 
worthy  gossip  was  decidedly  incorrect  in 
other  particulars  relating  to  art,  we  may 
dismiss  this  talk  of  the  great  German  as  an 
idle  rumour,  but  interesting  as  showing 
that  some  notable  painting  had  been 
carried  out  in  the  galleries  before  the  reign 
of  Charles  I.  Hard  by  this  spot,  in  Inigo 
Jones'  Banqueting  Hall,  we  have  a  remark- 
able painted  ceiling.  The  Hall  is  a  lofty 
one,  measuring  no  feet  by  55  feet,  and 
Peter  Paul  Rubens  was  commissioned  to 
carry  out  the  work.  He  made  elaborate 
sketches  while  in  London  for  submission 
to  the  King,  but  the  work  was  carried  out 
by  the  master  and  his  pupils  on  the 
Continent.  The  various  panels  are 
painted  on  canvas  and  held  in  place  by 
heavy  gilt  frames.  The  subject  is  the 
Happy  Life  and  Apotheosis  of  James  I. 
There  are  six  panels  in  all.     The  large 

p 


226  CEILINGS 

centre  one  is  an  oval  in  which  we  witness 
the  apotheosis  of  James ;  the  King,  in  his 
robes  of  the  Garter,  with  full-bottomed  wig 
and  three-cornered  hat  being  borne  heaven- 
ward on  the  back  of  a  Jovian  eagle.  His 
Majesty,  with  straddled  legs,  looks  exceed- 
ingly uncomfortable  in  his  perilous  posi- 
tion. The  panel  is  between  two  oblong 
canvases,  representing  respectively  the 
good  deeds  of  James  I.,  and  that  King 
designating  Charles  I.  as  his  successor. 
The  oval  panel  is  flanked  by  two  squares, 
and  the  oblong  panels  by  two  ovals,  filled 
with  allegorical  pictures.  The  colouring 
is  beautiful,  if  somewhat  brilliant,  but  we 
must  remember  that  the  canvases  have 
undergone  various  restorations.  Much 
heavy  and  elaborate  architecture  is  shown 
in  the  paintings,  the  grouping  being  rather 
disconcerting  to  the  star  gazer,  and, 
indeed,  the  perspective  has  been  severely 
criticised.  The  figure  drawing,  with  the 
difficult  foreshortening,  is  admirable,  a 
great  task,  for  Smith  tells  us  that  "  the 
children  are  more  than  nine  feet,  and  the 
full-grown  figures  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  feet  in  height.' ' 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       227 

Dr  Waagen  gives  a  description  and  an 
appreciation  of  this  scheme  "  which  is 
divided  into  nine  compartments.  The 
largest,  in  the  centre,  of  an  oval  form 
contains  the  Apotheosis  of  King  James  I. 
On  the  two  longer  sides  are  large  friezes 
with  infant  genii,  loading  with  sheaves  of 
corn  and  with  fruit,  carriages  drawn  by 
lions,  bears  and  rams.  The  proportions 
are  so  colossal  that  each  of  these  boys 
measures  nine  feet.  The  other  two  pictures 
in  the  centre  represent  King  James  as  the 
protector  of  peace,  seated  on  his  throne, 
appointing  Prince  Charles  as  his  successor. 
The  four  pictures  at  the  sides  contain  alle- 
gorical representations  of  Knightly  power 
and  virtue.  These  paintings,  executed  in 
1630  by  order  of  Charles  I.,  gave  one  very 
little  pleasure.  Independently  of  the  in- 
convenience of  looking  at  them,  all  large 
ceiling  paintings  have  an  oppressive,  heavy 
and  considered  as  architectural  ornaments 
unfavourable  effect;  for  which  reason,  the 
refined  taste  of  the  ancients  never  allowed 
them ;  substituting  light  decoration  on  a 
light-coloured  ground.  Least  of  all  are 
Rubens'     colossal     and     heavy     figures 


228  CEILINGS 

adapted  to  such  a  purpose.  All  allegories 
are  cold,  and  the  overladen  and  clumsy 
character  of  these  is  not  calculated  to  make 
them  attractive,  nor  were  the  character  and 
reign  of  James  I.  such  as  to  inspire  anyone 
with  any  enthusiasm.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  the  greater  part  was  originally  exe- 
cuted by  the  pupils  of  Rubens,  while  the 
deep,  unctous,  and  transparent  tone  of  the 
nude,  and  clumsy  form  of  the  chief  pictures 
leave  no  doubt  that  Jordaens,  especially, 
was  employed  on  them."  Sir  Godfrey 
Kneller,  who  had  in  his  possession  some  of 
the  original  sketches,  is  one  of  the  author- 
ities for  the  statement  that  Jordaens  helped 
largely  in  painting  these  pictures,  for 
which  Rubens  received  ^3,000. 

Charles  II.,  who  during  his  Continental 
wanderings  had  imbibed  a  taste  for  the 
mock  heroic  in  art,  with  its  strange  medley 
of  mythological  personages,  allegorical 
figures  and  modern  folk  masquerading  in 
the  pomp  of  Augustus  Caesar,  soon  after 
the  Restoration  brought  over  Antonio 
Verrio  to  re-establish  the  tapestry  works  at 
Mortlake.  This  enterprise  was  never 
carried  out,  but  Verrio,  who  had  studied  in 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       229 

Naples,  and  was  a  kind  of  universal  genius, 
was  employed  by  the  Earl  of  Arlington  in 
decorating  Euston.  Struck  by  the  daring 
gaudiness,  Charles  promptly  set  the  Italian 
to  work  at  Windsor.  Fine  old  timber 
ceilings,  others  coved  and  decorated  with 
plaster  work  or  carved  wood,  were  hidden 
by  flat  plaster  ceiling,  whereon  as  the  Duke 
of  Argyll  says,  u  Verrio's  flying  and  flit- 
ting angels  whirled  in  chaotic  allegory 
around  the  heads  of  kings  enthroned  in 
thunder  clouds/'  Many  of  these  have 
been  removed  revealing  the  better  work 
beneath,  but  several  specimens  remain, 
and  others  deserve  description.  Among 
those  which  remain  is  a  ceiling  in  the 
Queen's  Presence  Chamber,  and  another 
in  Charles  11/ s  Dining-room,  where  we 
are  shown  a  banquet  of  the  gods,  the  cor- 
nice and  frieze  being  heavily  decorated 
with  fish  and  game.  His  most  ambitious 
work  was  carried  out  in  St  George's  Hall, 
on  the  walls  of  which  he  painted  the  legend 
of  St  George  and  the  triumph  of  the  Black 
Prince.  The  ceiling  he  divided  into  panels 
by  means  of  heavy  plaster  mouldings  of 
foliage.       The  centre  elliptical  panel  he 


230  CEILINGS 

filled  with  a  kind  of  deification  of  Charles 
II.,  who,  seated  amidst  the  clouds  in  the 
royal  robes  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  he 
pressed  his  right  foot  on  the  head  of  a  lion, 
while  Religion  and  Plenty  crowned  him, 
and  angels  and  rays  of  light  swept  down 
towards  him,  England,  Scotland  and 
Ireland  reposing  at  his  feet,  with  Mars  and 
Mercury  in  attendance.  Two  octagon 
panels  contained  elaborate  groups  of 
figures,  representing  the  triumph  of 
Charles,  and  in  one  of  these  a  nobleman, 
not  liked  at  Court,  was  represented  as  a 
friend  dispersing  libels.  Verrio's  efforts 
in  the  King's  Guard  Room  was  less  of  a 
jumble,  more  appropriate  and  truly  decor- 
ative, for  he  filled  compartments  with 
figures  of  Peace  and  Plenty,  Mars  and 
Minerva,  and  again  Mars  with  war  sym- 
bols. In  the  Queen's  Guard  Room,  a 
large  oval  in  a  coved  ceiling,  showed  Queen 
Catherine  as  Britannia  seated  on  a  globe, 
receiving  offerings  from  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa  and  America.  It  is  one  of  a  long 
series  of  ceiling  devices  in  which  the  Queen 
was  granted  heavenly  honours  by  order  of 
her  erring  spouse.     In  this  instance  the 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       231 

design  was  fairly  successful,  the  blaze  of 
light  descending  on  Britannia  being  splen- 
didly contrived.  In  the  Ball-room  Charles 
was  again  in  the  clouds,  this  time  repre- 
sented as  giving  peace  to  Europe.  Verrio's 
performances  in  the  Chapel  Royal,  adjoin- 
ing St  George's  Hall,  was  remarkable  in 
many  ways.  The  coved  ceiling  was  painted 
with  the  scene  of  the  Resurrection,  not  at 
all  a  happy  effort.  On  the  North  wall  the 
miracles  of  Our  Lord  were  shown,  and 
among  the  crowd  stood  Verrio  and  some  of 
his  familiars  in  contemporary  costumes  and 
full  black  wigs. 

In  this  ceiling  Verrio  carried  out  a  device 
not  unknown  to  the  early  Renaissance 
painters,  which  he  used  with  good  effect  on 
other  occasions.  The  coves  were  divided 
into  highly  decorated  panels,  but  the  artist 
carried  the  sky  and  clouds  from  the  central 
panels  over  the  coves  in  straggling  masses, 
with  angels  in  their  midst.  Carefully 
done,  this  emphasising  of  the  continuity  of 
walls  and  ceiling  is  very  pleasing,  making 
an  elaborate  picture  overhead  more  toler- 
able. Michel  Angelo  arrived  at  the  same 
result  in  a  different  way,  using  architec- 
tural forms  and  sky. 


232 


CEILINGS 


Verrio,  who  had  found  time  to  reorganise 
the  gardens  at  Windsor,  and  who  had  been 
made  Master  Gardener,  with  a  home  in  the 
Mall,  close  to  St  James's  Palace,  became 
the  rage,  painting  ceilings  for  noblemen  in 
all  parts  of  the  country.  He  was  employed 
by  the  Earl  of  Essex  at  Cassiobury,  Lord 
Montagu  at  Montagu  House,  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire  at  Chats  worth,  the  Earl  of 
Essex  at  Burghley  (of  which  more  at 
length  later  on),  and  others. 

Both  Charles  and  James  kept  him  busy 
at  Hampton  Court,  where  much  of  his 
work,  characteristic,  hut  perhaps  not  of  his 
best,  is  still  extant.  When  William 
ascended  the  throne  Verrio  retired  to  the 
provinces,  carrying  out  numerous  commis- 
sions to  decorate  great  mansions.  For  a 
long  time  he  obstinately  refused  royal 
patronage,  for  he  was  loyal  to  his  old 
masters.  It  was  during  this  partial  eclipse 
of  the  Italian  luminary  that  a  revival  in 
better-class  plaster  work  came  about,  char- 
acterised by  a  certain  quaint  Dutch  for- 
malism, suggestive  of  tulips  and  parterres. 
However,  Verrio  recognising  that  the 
Stuart    cause    was    hopeless,    grudgingly 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       233 

accepted  the  commands  of  William  and  his 
Consort,  resuming  his  labours  at  Hampton 
Court,  where  he  associated  Laguerre  in 
most  of  his  work. 

It  is  at  Hampton  Court  that  we  are  con- 
fronted with  one  of  his  most  glaring  abuses 
of  the  mock-heroic,  for  the  Grand  Staircase 
presents  a  brain  bemusing  medley  of 
mythology,  allegory  and  history.  We  are 
bidden  to  attend  the  marriage  of  the 
Thames  and  Isis,  over  which  preside 
Jupiter  and  Juno  enthroned  in  the  clouds, 
attended  by  Ganymede  cup  in  hand,  riding 
the  eagle,  while  Juno's  peacock  stands  in 
front,  the  splendours  of  the  far-spread  tail 
vieing  with  the  vivid  hues  of  the  rainbow 
which  canopies  Diana.  Within  the 
charmed  circle  are  Apollo  with  the  nine 
Muses,  haggard  Fate  snipping  the  thread 
of  life,  Pan  with  his  pipes,  Hercules 
leaning  on  his  club,  while  Mercury  brings 
forward  Julian  the  Apostate.  Elsewhere 
Ceres,  offering  wheat-sheaves,  gods  and 
goddesses,  Nymphs,  Naiads,  Zephyrs, 
Satyrs,  and  Bacchanals  are  intermingled 
with  genii,  personifications  of  the  Virtues 
and  so  on,  while  Romulus  attends  with  his 


234  CEILINGS 

shaggy  foster-mother,  and  Aeneas  intro- 
duces the  twelve  Caesars.  Then  there  are 
overflowing  cornucopias,  flowers  and  fruit, 
architectural  features  and  much  more 
besides,  the  crowded  composition  overflow- 
ing from  the  ceiling  into  the  staircase 
walls.  Most  of  all  this  is  bad,  for  looking 
at  it  as  a  picture  the  colouring  is  harsh, 
the  drawing  defective,  many  of  the  figures 
loutish,  and  the  whole  conception  chaotic. 
Yet  if  we  look  upon  it  not  too  curiously, 
this  massing  of  colour,  and  rather  clever 
treatment  of  light,  is  impressive,  and  j^et 
again,  as  William  Howitt  says,  though 
M  the  figures  in  general  are  too  ponderous 
for  their  ethereal  character  and  position, 
here  and  there  your  eye  is  caught  by  some 
shape  of  sweetest  grace  or  countenance  of 
sunny  beauty.' '  It  is,  indeed,  a  patch- 
work affair,  with  some  delicious  bits  and 
quite  excellent  decorative  details.  And  so 
it  is  with  most  of  his  compositions. 
Among  his  work  here  for  Anne  was  the 
painting  of  the  Queen's  Drawing-room,  the 
large  centre  chamber  on  the  east  front, 
measuring  41  feet  by  25  feet.  On  the 
ceiling  Queen  Anne  is  represented  in  the 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       235 

character  of  Justice,  with  scales  in  one 
hand  and  sword  in  the  other.  Her  dress 
is  purple,  lined  with  ermine.  Over  her 
head  a  crown  is  held  by  Neptune  and 
Britannia,  while  surrounding  her,  floating 
in  the  clouds,  are  various  allegorical 
figures  of  Peace,  Plenty  and  other  pleasant 
attributes.  For  King  William's  State 
Bed-chamber  he  carried  out  a  rather  pretty 
concert  :  Endymion  is  shown  reposing  his 
head  in  the  lap  of  Morpheus,  Diana  with 
crescent  moon  looking  on  admiringly, 
while  Somnus  and  his  attendants  are  seen 
in  the  background.  There  is  a  border  of 
four  dainty  landscapes,  each  panel  separ- 
ated by  nude  boys  with  baskets  surrounded 
by  poppies.  Decidedly  quaint,  though 
less  excellent  as  a  ceiling  composition  is  the 
sleeping  Mars  seen  in  the  adjoining  Little 
Bed-chamber.  Mars  is  asleep  in  the  lap  of 
Venus,  and  small  cupids  swarm  around  and 
rob  him  of  his  shield,  armour,  helmet, 
sword  and  spear,  while  others  entwine  his 
arms  with  wreaths  and  roses.  The  border 
is  composed  of  orange,  jasmine  and  other 
somniferous  plants  in  ornamental  vases, 
with  parrots  (the  Oriental  symbol  of  love) 


236  CEILINGS 

and  other  birds  flitting  about  them.   Other 
ceilings  of  his  exist  here. 

We  have  mentioned  that  the  Earl  of 
Essex  employed  Verrio  at  Burghley,  a 
mansion  possessing  so  many  fine  Eliza- 
bethan plaster  ceilings  with  pendants.  He 
treated  the  Grand  Staircase  ceiling  in  a 
way  foreshadowing  his  subsequent  design 
at  Hampton.  He  took  for  his  subject  the 
hell  of  the  classic  writers,  depicting 
persons  whom  he  disliked  (notably  the  old 
housekeeper  and  a  neighbouring  cleric)  in 
most  invidious  positions.  Indeed,  he 
allowed  great  license  to  his  pencil,  intro- 
ducing touches  (fully  described  by  Dr  Peck 
in  his  u  Desiderata  Curiosa  "),  of  extreme 
coarseness,  just  such  touches  as  we 
see  disfiguring  much  of  the  modern 
popular  fresco  work  of  Italy.  Less  offen- 
sive, but  in  equally  doubtful  taste,  is  the 
ceiling  of  the  fifth  George  Room,  which  is 
described  by  Chalton  thus  :  ' '  In  the  centre 
are  Jupiter  and  Juno,  with  the  Zodiac  over 
their  heads.  Below  them  are  Ganymede, 
the  eagle  and  peacock,  Cybele,  with  turret 
on  her  head,  drawn  by  lions,  and  attended 
by  the  Corybantes ;  and  Ceres  drawn  by 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       237 

dragons.  To  the  right,  Minerva  is  seen 
resting  on  her  shield ;  and  in  various  parts 
of  the  ceiling  are  depicted,  Bacchns 
crowned  wth  the  vine  leaf,  and  Ariadne 
with  the  seven  stars,  Apollo,  Diana,  Her- 
cules, Castor  and  Pollux,  the  Goddess  of 
Sleep,  Fame  with  her  trumpet,  etc.  On 
the  west  side,  Mars  and  Venus  are  repres- 
ented as  caught  in  a  net  by  Vulcan,  who  is 
attended  by  Envy  :  the  God  of  Sleep  is 
showering  poppies  on  the  head  of  Mars; 
Mercury  is  descending  towards  them ;  and 
Time  and  Janus,  Cyclops,  etc.,  are  looking 
on.  Towards  the  North,  the  Graces 
appear  to  be  spectators  of  the  scene ;  beyond 
is  a  nymph,  who  is  taking  a  sketch  of  it ; 
whilst  husbandmen  are  standing  and 
laughing  from  the  between  the  pillars.  In 
the  background  is  the  sea,  from  which 
Neptune  has  just  disembarked  with  his 
attendants;  and  Bacchus  is  bestriding  a 
barrel  on  the  shore.  The  east  side  exhibits 
Vulcan  at  his  forge,  Cyclops  working  near 
him.  In  this  group  the  artist  himself 
appears."  Equally  crowded  and  confused 
designs  are  seen  on  five  other  ceilings  here. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  ceiling  of  the 


238  CEILINGS 

Great  Drawing-room,  which  represents  the 
gods  celebrating  the  nuptials  of  Jupiter  and 
Juno.  In  the  centre  is  the  festive  table — 
Jupiter  and  Juno  at  its  head — at  the  sides, 
Pluto,  Proserpine,  Neptune,  Amphitrite, 
Cupid  and  Psyche.  At  the  bottom  two 
cupids  holding  doves;  whilst  Mercury  is 
seen  flying  to  Jupiter  with  a  paper  in- 
inscribed,  "  Fit  totum  Fabula  ccelum.JJ 
Minerva  and  Mars  are  in  attendance, 
Ganymede  is  presenting  the  cup,  and  Flora 
receiving  refreshment  from  a  Cupid  while 
Bacchus  is  busy  pouring  out  wine,  and 
Bacchanalians  carousing,  with  Ceres  and 
the  Nereides.  Near  them  is  the  figure  of 
Plenty,  seated  with  cornucopias,  from 
which  are  issuing  bread,  fish  and  fowl. 
Near  the  window  are  seen  Cyclops  and 
others  carrying  viands,  and  female  attend- 
ants strewing  flowers.  It  was  poor  stuff, 
but  at  that  time  very  fashionable.  As 
Pope  sang — 

"On  painted  ceilings  you  devoutly  stare, 
Where  sprawl  the  saints  of  Verrio  and  Laguerre." 

Only  neither  the  Italian  master  or  his 
French  pupil  were  much  concerned  with 
saints  though  they  certainly   took   upon 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       239 

themselves  the  beatification  of  generous 
patrons.  Laguerre  besides  assisting  his 
chief,  did  a  considerable  amount  of  inde- 
pendent work  at  Hampton  Court,  Marl- 
borough House,  Burghley,  Petworth, 
Blenheim  and  elsewhere.  He  was  equally 
florid,  given  to  mythological,  Greek  and 
Roman  personages,  and  while  not  showing 
the  fertile  fancy  of  Verrio,  was  quite  as 
chaotic  and  deficient  as  a  draughtsman  and 
colourist. 

They  were  followed  by  a  crowded,  busy 
school  of  disciples,  who  worked  on  a  less 
ambitious  scale,  but  showed  similiar  lack 
of  taste  and  sense  of  proportion. 

For  a  time  a  note  of  dignity  was  intro- 
duced by  Sir  James  Thornhill,  who  added 
to  a  thorough  mastery  of  human  anatomy, 
a  feeling  for  beauty,  an  exquisite  sense  of 
colour  and  great  skill  in  composition.  We 
have  already  referred  to  his  monochrome 
work  in  St  Paul's  Cathedral,  of  which  only 
his  sketches  now  remain.  A  fine  example 
of  his  method  and  taste  is  to  be  seen  on  the 
ceiling  of  the  Queen's  State  Bed-chamber 
at  Hampton  Court.  It  represents  Aurora 
rising  out  of  the  sea,  in  her  golden  chariot, 


240  CEILINGS 

drawn  by  four  white  horses,  and  attended 
by  cupids.  Below  are  figures  representing 
Night  and  Sleep.  The  cornice  is  adorned 
with  four  medallions,  bearing  portraits  of 
King  George  I.  with  crown;  Caroline, 
Princess  of  Wales;  George  II.,  Prince  of 
Wales;  and  their  son,  Frederick,  later 
Prince  of  Wales,  as  a  boy  of  nine. 
Thornhill  also  worked  at  Windsor.  Per- 
haps his  best-known  paintings  are  the 
decorations  at  Greenwich  Hospital,  but 
these,  with  the  exception  of  the  cupola 
painting,  are  in  a  more  inflated  style, 
which  only  the  stately  proportions  of  these 
halls  make  tolerable.  In  the  centre  of 
the  cupola  is  a  great  compass  with  its 
points  duly  bearing.  The  coved  sides  are 
filled  with  four  gigantic  groups  of  figures, 
representing  the  winds,  painted  in  mono- 
chrome in  a  manner  to  suggest  high-relief 
sculpture.  A  winged  figure  of  the  East 
Wind  rises  from  the  East,  bringing  light 
to  the  world  with  a  flaming  torch,  while 
with  his  left  hand  he  pushes  the  morning 
star  into  the  dark.  Round  about  him  are 
half  figures  and  boys  showering  the  morn- 
ing dew.     The  South  Wind,  with  dripping 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       241 

wings,  is  seen  squeezing  rain  out  of  a  bag, 
while  little  boys  in  a  variety  of  vigorous 
attitudes  are  casting  thunder  and  lightning 
earthwards.       The   West   Wind,    accom- 
panied by  Joyful  Spring  playing  on  a  flute, 
is  surrounded  by  small  zephyrs  scattering 
flowers    from    baskets.       Cruel    Boreas, 
issuing    from    the    North,    appears    with 
dragon's  wings,  accompanied  by  a  fierce 
band    showering    down    hail    and    snow. 
Certainly  an  appropriate  scheme  for  such 
a   place.      More  gorgeous   colouring  and 
crowded  composition  is  seen  in  the  Great 
Hall.     In  the  middle  of  a  large  oval  we 
see    seated    under    a    canopy    of    State, 
attended  by  the   four   Cardinal  Virtues, 
King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  Concord 
sitting  between  them,  while  Cupid  holds 
the  sceptre.  The  King  is  presenting  Peace 
and  Liberty  to  Europe  and  trampling  on 
Tyranny  and  Arbitrary  Power.     Beneath 
the  group  stands  Architecture,  holding  a 
drawing  of  part  of  the  Hospital  and  point- 
ing upwards  to  the  royal  founders.  We  also 
see  Time  bringing  Truth  to  light,  while 
Wisdom  and  Virtue  in  the  person  of  Pallas 
and  Hercules  destroy  Calumny,  Detrac- 

Q 


243  CEILINGS 

tion,  Envy  and  other  vices.  In  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  oval  are  the  twelve  signs 
of  the  zodiac,  presided  over  by  Flora,  or 
Spring,  Ceres,  or  Summer,  Bacchus,  or 
Autumn,  and  Hyems  or  Winter.  Apollo 
on  high,  in  chariot  drawn  by  four  white 
horses,  and  accompanied  by  the  Hours, 
Dews  falling  before  him,  sheds  brilliant 
light  on  the  whole  scene.  The  oval  frame 
is  supported  by  sculptured  figures  amidst 
a  profusion  of  trophies,  all  painted  in 
monochrome,  thus  throwing  up  the  fresh 
colouring  of  the  great  central  picture. 
Each  end  of  the  ceiling  is  raised  in  per- 
spective with  balustrades,  colossal  figures 
supporting  elliptical  arches,  forming 
galleries  in  which  are  grouped  Arts  and 
Sciences,  relating  to  Navigation.  In  the 
middle  of  the  gallery  next  the  Upper  Hall 
is  the  stern  of  a  British  man-o'-war, 
Winged  Victory  filling  her  with  spoils 
from  the  enemy.  Under  the  step  is  London 
sitting  on  the  Thames  and  Isis,  with  the 
smaller  rivers  bringing  treasures  to  her. 
The  River  Tyne  is  there  pouring  forth 
abundance  of  coal.  In  the  centre  of  the 
Gallery  at  the  lower  end  of  the  Hall,  is 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       243 

the  stern  of  a  Spanish  galley  filled  with 
trophies.  Under  it  is  the  Severn  with  her 
lampreys,  and  the  Humber  with  his  pigs 
of  lead.  On  the  left  hand  is  Tycho  Brahe, 
near  him  Copernicus  with  his  System  in 
hand,  accompanied  by  a  philosopher 
pointing  to  some  mathematical  figures  of 
Sir  Isaac  Newton.  On  right  of  gallery  is 
Flamstead  the  astronomer,  his  disciple 
Thomas  Weston,  Master  of  the  Hospital, 
assisting  him  in  taking  observations  of 
Eagre  on  the  Severn,  while  an  old  man 
marks  time  on  a  clock.  In  the  four  angles 
are  the  Elements,  Fire,  Air,  Earth  and 
Water,  offering  their  productions  to  the 
King  and  Queen,  while  Fame  at  the  end 
of  the  oval  descends  sounding  the  praise 
of  the  pair.  On  the  North  side  of  the 
Hall  are  painted  in  niches  eight  of  the 
social  virtues. 

The  ceiling  of  the  Upper  Hall  is  raised 
in  perspective,  showing  Queen  Anne  and 
Prince  George  of  Denmark  surrounded  by 
Concord,  Liberality,  Piety,  Victory  and 
other  Virtues.  Neptune  attended  by 
Trittons,  presents  his  trident  to  Prince 
George  as  Lord  High  Admiral,  and  other 


244  CEILINGS 

divinities  advance  with  offerings,  while 
Juno  accompanied  by  Aeolus  commands  a 
calm.  In  the  covings  are  figures  of  the 
four  quarters  of  the  globe  admiring  British 
maritime  power,  the  angles  being  framed 
with  the  arms  of  England,  Scotland, 
France  and  Ireland,  adorned  with  festoons 
of  sea-shells,  trophies  of  war  and  pots  of 
flowers.  Inflated  no  doubt  all  this  is,  but 
the  mock-heroic  is  redeemed  by  the  clever 
grouping,  the  studied  balancing  of  the 
compositions,  the  beauty  and  strength  of 
individual  figures,  and  the  appropriateness 
of  the  symbolism. 

Thornhill's  active  rival  for  royal  patron- 
age a  most  indefatigable  worker  and 
favourite  with  the  nobility,  was  William 
Kent,  a  man  of  very  different  calibre.  A 
decorator  of  much  merit  and  some  origin- 
ality, he  aimed  at  greater  things,  and 
though  receiving  distinguished  support, 
proved  himself  an  inferior  architect  and 
very  bad  painter.  Specimens  of  his  work 
are  numerous,  but  perhaps  the  most  favour- 
able, and  certainly  among  the  most 
important,  is  the  painting  on  the  walls  of 
the     King's     Staircase     at     Kensington 


Grand  Staircase,  Kensington  Palace.     Painted  by  William  Kent. 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       245 

Palace.  The  ceiling  is  flat,  the  back- 
ground painted  grey.  There  is  a  centre 
panel  and  smaller  panels,  the  whole  ceiling 
heavily  framed  with  modelled  plaster.  The 
centre  square  encloses  a  circle,  within 
which  are  four  semi-circular  spaces,  the 
whole  representing  a  pierced  dome  with 
galleries.  Three  of  these  galleries  are 
filled  with  musicians  playing  on  instru- 
ments, and  spectators  gazing  on  the 
crowded  walls,  filled  with  figures  shown 
walking  up  steps  and  garden  terraces.  In 
the  fourth  semi-circle  Kent  himself,  palette 
in  hand,  and  accompanied  by  two  pupils, 
is  seen.  The  scheme  was  altogether  too 
big  for  the  artist,  who  was  unable  to 
manage  convincing  grouping.  There  are 
several  other  ceilings  of  his  here,  betraying 
only  too  glaringly  the  influence  of  Verrio 
and  Laguerre.  For  instance,  in  Queen 
Caroline's  Drawing-room,  within  a  heavy 
frame  of  moulded  plaster,  the  Queen,  re- 
presented as  Minerva,  is  seen  attended  by 
History  and  the  Arts,  a  set  of  heavy, 
simpering  persons.  In  the  King's 
Drawing-room,  the  coves  are  decorated 
with    rather    elaborate,    but    fine    plaster 


246  CEILINGS 

scrolls  and  architectural  details,  richly 
painted  and  gilt,  medallions  on  each  side 
being  supported  by  female  figures.  On 
the  flat  part  of  the  ceiling  is  a  deeply 
moulded  plaster  frame,  enclosing  a  badly 
drawn,  crudely  coloured  picture  telling 
the  story  of  Jupiter  and  Semele. 

This  kind  of  thing,  which  called  forth 
Pope's  satire,  was  largely  imitated, 
peopling  the  ceilings  of  town  and  country 
houses  with  a  monstrous  army  of  mytho- 
logical, allegorical  and  historical  person- 
ages, whose  constant  presence  must  have 
been  a  wearisome  impertinent  intrusion, 
scarcely  improved  by  their  distorted 
writhings.  Charles  Dickens  has  told  us 
how,  from  the  ceiling  of  Mr  Tulkinghorn's 
Chambers  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  "  fore- 
shortened allegory,  in  the  person  of  one 
impossible  Roman  upside  down,  pointed 
with  the  arm  of  Sampson  (out  of  joint, 
and  an  odd  one)  obtrusively  towards  the 
window.' '  For  many  years  the  persistent 
Roman  has  been  pointing  with  no  particu- 
lar meaning,  until  one  morning  he  is  found 
11  pointing  at  a  table,  with  a  bottle  (nearly 
full  of  wine)  and  a  glass  upon  it,  and  two 


PICTORIAL  CEILINGS       247 

candles  that  were  blown  out  suddenly  t 
soon  after  being  lighted.  He  is  pointing 
at  an  empty  chair  and  the  stain  upon  the 
ground  before  it  that  might  be  almost 
covered  with  a  hand.  These  objects  lie 
directly  witjiin  his  range.  An  excited 
imagination  might  suppose  that  there  was 
something  in  them  so  terrific,  as  to  drive 
the  rest  of  the  composition,  not  only  the 
attendant  big-legged  boys,  but  the  clouds 
and  flowers  and  pillars  too — in  short  the 
very  body  and  soul  of  allegory,  and  all  the 
brains  it  has — stark  mad.  It  happens 
surely,  that  everyone  that  comes  into  the 
darkened  room  and  looks  at  these  things, 
looks  up  at  the  Roman,  and  that  he  is 
invested  in  all  eyes  with  mystery  and  awe, 
as  if  he  were  a  paralysed  dumb  witness/ ■ 
It  is  this  ever  present  incongruity  of  a  pic- 
torial ceiling  of  the  heroic  school  that 
makes  them  especially  objectionable, 
thoroughly  unrestful. 

Scarcely  more  pleasing  to  the  eye  or 
reposeful  to  the  mind  were  the  crowded 
allegories  of  Campbells,  Richardsons  and 
others,  or  even  the  little  inanities  of  a 
Cipriani  and  an  Angelica  Kauffmann. 


248  CEILINGS 

The  truth  is,  the  pictorial  ceiling  to  be 
worth  anything  must  be  distinctly  decora- 
tive, like  the  best  of  those  in  Venice,  or, 
in  the  French  capital,  Benjamin  Constant's 
magnificent  painting  in  the  Reception 
Hall  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  showing  Paris 
welcoming  the  world  to  the  banks  of  the 
Seine.  But  these  triumphs,  if  we  except 
religious  paintings  on  church  vaulting,  are 
few  and  far  between. 

Before  closing  this  chapter  we  must  refer 
to  a  rather  pleasing  conceit  carried  out  by 
Henry  Holland  at  Carlton  House,  where 
the  ceilings  of  the  fine  series  of  reception- 
rooms  were  all  painted  as  skies ;  not  of  the 
classic  symbolical  kind,,  but  with  different 
shades  of  blue  and  natural  cloud  effects. 
It  was  just  sufficiently  decorative,  yet  not 
obtrusive,  to  suit  any  accessories  of  wall 
coverings  and  furniture. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PRESENT  DAY  PRACTICE 

During  the  Victorian  era  various  causes 
combined  to  emphasise  the  tyranny  of  the 
plain  white  plaster  ceiling,  so  bitterly 
railed  against  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
For  one  thing  the  dead,  and  deadening, 
hand  of  building  lessors  became  oppressive 
in  the  land,  so  that  the  majority  of  men 
looked  upon  their  homes  as  mere  tempor- 
ary abodes,  taking  little  pride  in  them.  It 
was  a  tyranny  scarcely  made  more  toler- 
able by  the  monstrous  usurpation  of  that 
nondescript  centre  ornament (?),  the  so- 
called  rose,  with  its  central  bud  (sometimes 
expelling  a  gasolier,  as  though  from  sheer 
weariness  and  disgust),  surrounded  by 
radiating  rings  of  foliage,  each  row  of  a 
different  kind,  the  outer  ring  of  attenuated 
acanthus  alternating  with  foliated  spikes, 
terminating  in  a  blossom  the  like  of  which 
249 


250  CEILINGS 

nature  never  produced.  This  hideous 
travesty  of  the  old  rose  (that  ancient  sym- 
bol of  the  sanctity  of  domesticity  and  jovi- 
ality— for  it  represented  the  culminating 
points  of  the  roof -tree ;  of  the  most  sacred 
and  tender  things  that  Christianity  has  to 
teach — so  that  all  that  passed  "  under  the 
rose  "  was  secret)  is  an  eyesore  possessing 
distracting  attractiveness,  revealing  all  too 
well  the  blatant  nakedness  of  its  surround- 
ings. 

Charles  Reade  led  a  vigorous  crusade 
against  this  state  of  things,  and  in  his 
"  Builders '  Blunders  "  speaks  of 
M  standing  on  the  first  floor  of  the  thing 
they  call  a  house,  with  a  blunder  under  my 
feet — unvarnished,  un jointed  boards,  and 
a  blunder  over  my  head — the  oppressive, 
glaring,  plaster  ceiling,  full  of  its  inevit- 
able cracks,  and  foul  with  the  smoke  of 
only  three  months'  gas,"  This  "  plaster 
ceiling  "  he  adds,  "  may  pass  with  London 
builders  for  a  venerable  antiquity  that 
nothing  can  disturb,  but  to  scholars  it  is 
an  unhappy  novelty,  and,  in  its  present 
form,  inexcusable.  It  was  invented  in  a 
tawdry  age  as  a  vehicle  for  florid  ornamen- 


PRESENT   DAY   PRACTICE    251 

tation ;  but  what  excuse  can  there  be  for  a 
plain  plaster  ceiling  ?  Count  the  objections 
to  it  in  a  kitchen,  (1)  A  kitchen  is  a  low 
room,  and  the  ceiling  makes  it  nine  inches 
lower ;  (2)  White  is  a  glaring  colour,  and  a 
white  ceiling  makes  a  low  room  look  lower ; 
(3)  This  kitchen  ceiling  is  dirty  after  a 
month's  wear,  and  filthy  in  three  months, 
with  the  smoke  of  gas,  and  it  is  a  thing  the 
servants  cannot  clean  ;  (4)  You  cannot  hang 
things  on  it.  Now  change  all  this  :  lay 
out  the  prime  cost  of  the  ceiling,  and  a 
small  part  of  its  yearly  cost,  in  finishing 
your  joists  and  boards  to  receive  varnish, 
and  in  varnishing  them  with  three  coats 
of  copal.  Your  low  room  is  now  nine 
inches  higher,  and  looks  three  feet.  You 
can  put  in  hooks  and  staples  galore,  and 
make  the  roof  of  this  business-room  useful ; 
it  is  in  colour,  a  pale  amber  at  starting, 
which  is  better  for  the  human  eye  than  the 
white  glare,  and,  instead  of  getting  uglier 
every  day,  as  the  plaster  ceiling  does,  it 
improves  every  month,  every  year,  every 
decade,  every  century.  Clean  deal,  under 
varnish,  acquires  in  a  few  years  a  beauty 
oak  can  never  attain  to." 


252  CEILINGS 

This  revolt  has  borne  fruit;  firstly  in 
the  flat  ceiling  once  more  being  treated  as 
a  surface  to  be  decorated,  and  secondly,  in 
a  return  to  the  boarded,  or  plaster  panel 
ceiling  with  visible  joists.  The  former  is 
applicable  to  town  houses,  be  they  ever  so 
fine,  or  ever  so  commonplace ;  the  latter 
to  the  modern  and  rather  uncertain  but 
decidedly  improved  suburban  villa,  and  to 
the  more  characterised  country  cottages  or 
modest  dwellings. 

Flat  ceiling  decoration  has  taken  four 
main  forms  :  revival  of  mixed  gesso 
painting  or  modelling  on  plaster ;  covering 
the  ceiling  with  some  imitation  of  plaster 
work  or  wood  carving;  the  application  of 
printed  or  embossed  paper. 

Modern  gesso  work  is  generally  applied 
to  a  surface  of  plaster  or  fibrous  plaster,  of 
which,  panels  and  broad  decorative  details 
are  found.  The  detail-decorations — 
figures,  flowers,  scrolls — are  then  applied 
in  a  semi-liquid,  or  very  plastic,  composi- 
tion. Walter  Crane  used  a  mixture  of  one 
part  of  resin,  boiled  in  four  parts  of  linseed 
oil  and  six  of  glue,  to  which  sufficient 
soaked  whiting  was  added  to  form  a  thick 


PRESENT   DAY   PRACTICE    253 

cream.  Mr  G.  T.  Robinson  used  plaster 
dissolved  in  liquid  glue,  to  which  a  little 
oil  was  added  to  secure  fluency.  If  desired 
these  mixtures  can  be  tinted  before  appli- 
cation, or  painted  when  the  decoration  is 
completed,  but  still  soft.  The  stiff er 
mixtures  are  handled  like  putty,  or  as  a 
modeller  handles  clay,  being  put  on  the 
surface  to  be  decorated  m  thin  dabs  of 
requisite  size  and  shape,  the  ornament  then 
being  formed  by  removal  of  superfluous 
material.  If  the  composition  is  of  the 
more  fluent  description,  it  is  applied  by 
means  of  brushes  of  different  sizes.  In 
this  way  low  relief  work  of  considerable 
delicacy  and  durability  can  be  carried  out. 
It  is  practically  an  exaggerated  form  of 
impasto  painting,  and  thus  the  actual  touch 
of  the  artist  is  shown  on  all  the  work.  The 
danger  is  that  finicking  over  decoration 
may  result,  a  defect  which  was  observable 
even  in  some  of  Walter  Crane's  ceilings. 

Wren  used  to  form  many  of  his  plaster 
ornaments  in  moulds  the  casts  subse- 
quently being  fixed  to  the  ceilings.  Others 
followed  his  example,  as  did  Adam  with 
his  composition.     But  in  1856,  a  French 


254  CEILINGS 

modeller,  L.  A.  Desachy,  improving  on 
certain  dateless  rule  of  thumb  methods, 
took  out  a  patent  for  ' '  producing  architec- 
tural mouldings,  ornaments,  and  other 
works  of  art  formed  with  surfaces  of 
plaster."  It  was  a  process  for  moulding 
with  canvas  as  a  basis,  and  he  took  powers 
to  lay  wires  * '  into  and  between  the  two  or 
more  layers  of  canvas.  Flat  surfaces  are 
strengthened  with  canvas,  wires,  hooks 
and  pieces  of  wood  may  be  inserted  whilst 
the  plaster  is  in  a  fluid  state."  It  was,  in 
fact,  a  process  to  enable  large  sections  of 
decorative  plaster  work  to  be  made  quite 
light,  very  little  material  being  used, 
whilst  durability  was  assured,  and  hand- 
ling made  quite  easy.  The  ancient 
Egyptians  had  availed  themselves  of  a 
similar  process  for  decorating  mummy 
cases,  dipping  canvas  in  liquid  plaster, 
wrapping  the  cases  round  and  adding  cast 
low  relief  plaster  decoration,  or  merely  a 
coating  of  plaster  which  was  painted  and 
varnished.  Desachy's  process  attracted 
attention,  Owen  Jones  being  among  those 
architects  who  employed  it  largely. 
Fibrous  plaster  possessed  obvious  advan- 


PRESENT   DAY   PRACTICE    255 

tages  for  many  kinds  of  work,  for  instance, 
the  decoration  of  temporary  buildings ;  but 
as  manipulation  improved,  its  value  for 
permanent  work  was  recognised.  Much  of 
the  fine  plaster  ornamentation  at  the  Paris 
Opera  House  is  in  fibrous  plaster,  and  this 
material  is  now  commonly  used  for  ceilings 
in  public  buildings  and  private  houses.  The 
method  enables  panels  and  sections  of  large 
and  small  size  and  all  kinds  of  shapes  to 
be  moulded,  safely  transported  and  then 
nailed  in  position  to  the  joists.  Of  course, 
any  style  of  decoration  may  be  carried  out 
in  this  work,  whether  in  low,  medium  or 
very  high  relief,  while  paint,  tempera  or 
oil,  and  gilding  can  be  applied. 

While  fibrous  plaster  can  be  moulded 
into  any  size  and  shape  desired,  it  is,  of 
course,  hard  and  unbendable,  though  it 
may  be  cut  away  where  necessary.  The 
need  of  some  more  pliable  material,  produc- 
ing much  the  same  effect  as  fibrous  plaster, 
was  felt,  and  as  a  result  a  large  variety  of 
fabrics  have  been  produced,  comprising  a 
canvas  backing,  or  composed  of  fibre,  a 
glutinous  substance  and  filling  material. 
For  instance,  "  Lincrusta  Walton  M  is  a 


256  CEILINGS 

mixture  of  oil  and  very  finely  powdered 
cork,  pressed  in  moulds  on  canvas. 
' '  Lignomur  "  is  a  preparation  of  wood 
fibre  embossed.  "  Anaglypta  "  is  a  form 
of  moulded  paper  pulp,  while  in  the  com- 
position of  the  associated  ' '  Salamander  ' ' 
asbestos  enters  largely.  All  these 
materials  are  capable  of  being  impressed 
with  any  kind  of  pattern  in  low  and 
medium  relief,  whether  floral,  geometrical, 
or  genre  subjects  are  chosen.  The  advan- 
tage is  that  they  are  not  only  easily  applied 
to  ceilings,  but  may  be  cut  or  bent  to  cover 
covered  surfaces  or  to  form  canopy  ceilings. 
Of  course,  they  can  be  painted  in  any 
media  preferred. 

A  drawback  at  first  attaching  to  the  use 
of  the  canvas  materials  (and  to  commercial 
fibrous  plaster,  that  is  to  say  plaster  slabs 
manufactured  wholesale,  and  not  to  special 
design  for  a  special  room)  was  that  it  was 
difficult  to  choose  a  pattern  which  did  not 
betray  the  mechanical  nature  of  the  treat- 
ment. For  some  time  past,  however, 
great  care  has  been  taken  in  designing 
patterns  which  may  be  carried  out  in  small 
and  large  panels,  corner  pieces,  etc.,  so 


PRESENT    DAY   PRACTICE    257 

that  b}^  subtraction  or  addition  any  sized 
surface  can  be  fittingly  covered.  It 
now  merely  resolves  itself  into  a 
question  of  showing  judgment  in  select- 
ing a  type  suitable  for  any  given 
position. 

Metal  ceilings  have  also  come  into  exten- 
sive use.  They  are  stamped  into  thin 
sheets  with  embossed  designs,  generally  in 
imitation  of  decorated  tiles,  or  mosaic  work 
the  under  surface  being  coated  with  a  non- 
tarnishable  patina  and  the  upper  enamelled 
in  colours.  These  ceilings  are  generally 
made  to  adhere  to  boards,  or  to  the  joists 
by  means  of  a  special  cement.  Or  they 
may  be  tacked  down  with  ornamental 
headed  zinc  nails.  Conventional  patterns 
being  chosen,  and  suitable  border  strips 
being  also  provided,  it  is  easy  enough  to 
contrive  good  joining.  These  enamelled 
metal  ceilings  are  excellent  for  bath-rooms, 
corridors,  nurseries,  and  school-rooms,  and 
kitchens,  because  they  can  be  washed 
regularly.  For  tropical  climates  and  for 
the  "  week-end  "  type  of  bungalow,  where 
the  inroads  of  vermin  and  damp  have  to  be 
guarded   against,  they   are   to  be  recom- 

R 


258  CEILINGS 

mended.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
enamel  can  be  made  with  polished  or  mat 
surface. 

Ferro-concrete  construction  is  often 
looked  upon  as  inimical  to  artistic  develop- 
ment of  building.  This  has  certainly  not 
been  the  case  as  regards  the  decoration  of 
ceilings.  In  schools  and  other  public 
buildings,  the  ferro  concrete  beams  are 
exposed,  forming  deep  bays,  while  the 
arched  braces  have  been  utilised  to  give 
handsome  coving  effects.  Of  course  the 
sides  and  soffits  of  the  beams  and  the 
sunken  panels  can  be  decorated  like  ordin- 
ary plaster  work.  In  small  ceilings,  where 
only  slender  beams  are  required,  these 
intersect  at  regular  intervals  to  form 
shallow,  square  coffers,  the  soffits  of  these 
concrete  beams  being  moulded  with  plain 
fillets  forming  a  frame  round  each  coffer, 
or  they  may  be  decorated  with  a  running 
foliage  pattern,  with  moulded  bosses  at  the 
intersections.  The  coffers  themselves  may 
be  decorated  with  raised  mouldings.  Of 
course  the  finishing  coat  of  the  concrete  is 
of  a  rather  fine  quality,  but  it  gives  a  more 
rugged  appearance  than  plaster,  which  is 


PRESENT   DAY   PRACTICE    259 

not  unpleasing.  Concrete  can  be  coloured 
as  desired.  Very  good  examples  of  this 
latter  form  of  decoration  are  to  be  seen  in 
the  Shropshire  County  Council  Offices  at 
Shrewsbury.  The  principle  of  reinforcing 
mortar  with  a  steel  skeleton,  however,  has 
led  to  a  remarkable  development — the  sus- 
pended ceiling,  which  may  be  compared  to 
Wren's  ceiling  at  the  Sheldonian  Theatre. 
When  the  reinforcement  consists  of  sheets 
of  expanded  metal,  or  of  a  network  of  steel 
wires,  woven  into  locked  mesh  panels, 
these  sheets  can  be  cut  and  bent  to  any 
desired  shape,  and  fastened  by  means  of 
steel  hangers  immediately  below  the  floor- 
ing joists  or  roof  principles,  or  at  some 
distance  below  them.  This  last-named 
method  is  often  adopted  in  order  to  form  a 
chamber  for  the  accommodation  of  pipes, 
electric  wires,  and  ventilating  ducts. 
Moreover,  the  sheets  can  either  be 
stretched  flat  from  wall  to  wall,  curved  to 
accommodate  itself  to  the  architectural 
features  of  the  room,  or  formed  into  bays 
and  coves.  The  metal  is  then  covered 
either  with  fine  concrete  and  a  plaster 
finish,  or  only  with  plaster,  the  expanded 


26o  CEILINGS 

metal  or  wire  mesh  affording  a  splendid 
key  for  the  plaster.  Of  course  the  plaster 
can  be  stamped,  moulded  or  modelled,  and 
painted  as  desired.  Good  examples  of  this 
kind  of  work  can  be  seen  at  the  Royal 
College  of  Science,  South  Kensington,  the 
Dining  Hall  at  the  Britannia  Royal  Naval 
College,  Dartmouth,  and  the  Westminster 
City  Council's  Offices. 

An  easy  way  of  mitigating  the  objection 
to  plain  white  ceilings  was  easily  found  by 
covering  the  surface  with  wall-paper,  and 
this  is  still  largely  in  vogue.  The  difficulty 
of  finding  suitable  patterns,  that  is,  papers 
not  obviously  intended  to  cover  perpen- 
dicular walls,  has  been  overcome  by  design- 
ing special  ceiling  papers.  As  a  rule, 
plain,  pale  tints  are  chosen,  contrasts  of 
colours  being  avoided.  In  America, 
however,  a  favourite  method  is  to  divide 
up  the  ceilings  with  moulded  ribs  of  wood, 
and  filling  in  the  panels  with  richly 
coloured  papers  of  the  embossed  variety. 
If  discretion  is  observed  there  is  no  reason 
why  very  charming  effects  should  not  be 
provided  in  this  way.  For  instance,  if  we 
have  oaken  or  gilded  ribs,  with  buff  or 


PRESENT   DAY   PRACTICE    261 

dark  green  paper,  bordered  respectively 
with  a  deep  crimson  and  a  bright,  not  too 
deep  pink,  we  obtain  a  combination  quite 
suitable  for  a  library  or  study.  A  good 
colour  scheme  for  a  dining-room  would  be 
maroon,  with  dull  gold  embossed  border. 
For  drawing-rooms  and  boudoirs  a  light 
bright  blue,  a  creamy  blue  of  light  biscuit 
gemmed  moderately  with  more  decided 
colours  in  harmony  with  the  decorative 
scheme  of  the  room,  the  dividing  ribs 
being  gilded  or  coloured,  would  look  well. 

Where  the  panel  type  is  not  adopted  a 
room  is  often  canopied — that  is  to  say,  the 
ceiling  paper  is  brought  down  on  the  sides 
of  the  walls,  six,  twelve  or  eighteen  inches, 
and  separated  from  the  wall-paper  by  a 
gilded  or  coloured  moulding.  A  modifica- 
tion of  this  canopied  style  may  be  tried  in 
this  way  :  divide  the  ceiling  into  triangles, 
choosing  a  diapered  paper,  covering  the 
junction  in  the  centre  with  a  rose,  circular 
or  boss  ornament,  and  the  juncture  at  the 
sides  with  a  moulded  cord.  Bring  the 
wall-paper  down  the  side  of  the  walls  and 
end  with  imitation  fringe  or  rich  embossed 
border.     The    cord    and    fringe    should 


262  CEILINGS 

imitate  either  bullion  or  bright-coloured 
silk.  In  this  way  a  tent-like  effect  can  be 
produced,  quite  suitable  say  for  the  M  snug- 
gery "  of  a  globe  trotter.  Embossed 
leatherette  paper  in  browns  gives  very 
effective  renderings  of  dark  or  light  carved 
wood  ceilings,  relieved,  occasionally  by  a 
slight  touch  of  gold. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  it  was  quite  fashionable  to  have 
11  Indian  M  or  "  Chinese  M  rooms,  with 
lacquered  walls  and  ceilings  bearing  more 
or  less  truthful  oriental  ornamentations. 
A  modified  revival  of  this  is  sometimes 
seen  where  walls  and  ceilings  are  covered 
with  Japanese  fibrous  paper,  which  is  both 
embossed  and  slightly  coloured.  If  the 
ceilings  are  framed,  or  divided  up  into 
panels,  with  bamboo  mouldings,  the  effect 
is  improved. 

So  much  for  the  flat  plastered  ceilings, 
but  Charles  Reade's  idea  of  exposed  joists 
and  boards  is,  in  part,  at  least,  very 
commonly  adopted  by  present-day  archi- 
tects— occasionally  for  town  houses,  but 
more  generally  for  the  better  type  of 
suburban   dwelling,   and   country   houses 


PRESENT   DAY   PRACTICE    263 

both  of  the  cottage  and  studiedly  simple 
mansion  type.  It  is  true  we  do  not  always 
have  the  plain  varnished  joists  and  boards, 
although  this  is  often  seen.  More  fre- 
quently, however,  we  have  wooden  joists 
in  combination  with  plaster,  the  beams 
being  either  plain,  decorated  with  mould- 
ings or  with  carved  ornamentation.  For 
the  living  rooms  of  cottages,  the  halls, 
dining  and  billiard  rooms  of  more  preten- 
tious houses,  the  beams  are  often  varnished 
or  painted  with  a  dark  stain,  the  deep  coves 
being  filled  with  plain  white  plaster,  and 
then  we  have  practically  a  return  to  the 
very  favourite  old  time  colour  scheme  :  a 
contrast  in  black  and  white.  Endless 
variations  are  introduced  by  the  grouping 
of  the  beams.  We  may  have  joists  running 
across  the  room,  or  longitudinally;  or  in 
long  rooms  we  may  have  one  or  two  heavy 
longitudinal  beams  intersected  by  crossing 
joists  of  slighter  scantling,  thus  forming  a 
diaper  pattern,  the  ornamentation  being 
painted,  they  are  either  stained  or  var- 
nished, but  may  be  decorated  with  centre 
roses,  stencilled  borders  or  a  running 
diaper  pattern,  the  ornamentation   being 


264  CEILINGS 

carried  out  either  in  white  or  black,  some 
shade  of  brown,  or  even  in  bright  colours. 
More  often  this  form  of  treatment  is 
reserved  for  plastered  surfaces  between 
joists,  and  they  may  have  quite  elaborate 
painting.  The  beams,  whether  varnished 
or  stained,  or,  as  is  sometimes  done, 
painted,  are  decorated  with  curvilinear  or 
running  floral  patterns  on  their  soffits,  or 
their  sides,  or  both. 

In  one  successful  example  where  a 
billiard  room  has  two  longitudinal  beams 
with  slimmer  cross  joists,  the  ceiling  is 
finished  in  a  creamy  white,  the  soffits  of 
the  timbers  being  decorated  with  stencil- 
ling in  red,  black  and  gray. 

It  is  a  most  hopeful  sign,  this  renewal 
of  interest  in  the  ceiling,  even  in  modest 
houses  for  it  reveals  a  revolt  against  the 
reign  of  .ugliness  introduced  during  the 
last  couple  of  centuries. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SOME  NOTES  ON  LIGHTING 

A  STUDY  of  ceilings  naturally  leads  us  to 
particular  consideration  of  illumination. 
In  the  Orient,  where  sunray  glare  and 
heat  gave  special  importance  to  the  pro- 
blem of  lighting  interiors  in  the  daytime, 
it  was  early  recognised  that  convenience 
and  aesthetics  demanded  that  illumination 
should  come  from  above.  We  have  seen 
how  they  managed  this  by  placing  partially 
obstructed  windows  high  up  in  walls,  and 
by  piercing  roofs  or  ceilings  with  oblique 
slits.  They  adhered  to  the  same  principle 
in  artificial  lighting,  using  hanging  devices 
supporting  tiny  oil  lamps. 

Both  the  Semitic  races  and  the  Egyp- 
tians appear  to  have  used  the  tree  form  of 
support,  or  candelabra.  With  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  the  torch,  or  tall  stand  sup- 
porting an  oil  lamp,  prevailed,  although 
265 


266  CEILINGS 

they,  too,  knew  and  nsed  the  suspended  oil 
lamp. 

Hanging  candelabra,  or  chandeliers, 
came  into  use  in  Europe  towards  the  end 
of  the  ninth  century,  by  way  of  the  church, 
gradually  spreading  to  palace  and  castle. 
But  the  standard  candelabra  and  wall  brac- 
ket largely  prevailed,  the  latter  being  an 
elaboration  of  primitive  resinous  torch  sup- 
ports. These  consisted  of  wall  sockets,  and 
above  them  a  projecting  bar,  terminating 
in  a  ring  :  the  torch  was  placed  through 
the  ring,  its  base  resting  in  a  socket ;  con- 
sequently being  inclined  outwards.  Never- 
theless the  chandelier  was  in  great  request, 
first  being  of  iron  or  brass,  then  of  silver, 
followed  by  carved  wood  covered  with  gilt 
gesso  duro,  cut  glass,  bringing  us  down  to 
the  gasolier  and  the  electrolier.  It  must  be 
confessed  that  unless  carefully  designed, 
these  do  not  harmonise  with  Renaissance 
style,  especially,  when  the  decoration  in- 
cludes miniature  paintings  or  high  relief 
figure  modelling.  They  are  always  out  of 
place  pendant  from  pictorial  ceilings,  for 
then  the  incongruity  is  too  manifest,  often 
rather  horribly  so.      As  to  this,  we  will 


NOTES    ON    LIGHTING       267 

refer  the  patient  student  to  the  old  Verrio 
genre  ceiling  in  the  Ball-room  at  Windsor. 
The  ordinary  gasolier  and  electrolier  are 
not  very  good  distributors  of  light,  indeed, 
though  giving  greater  volume,  they  afford 
an  inferior  diffusion  to  that  of  the  old  chan- 
delier, with  its  numerous  light  points,  the 
flames,  moreover,  reflected  from  metal  sur- 
faces. In  this  connection,  the  cut  glass 
lustre  is  an  admirable  contrivance,  well 
designed ;  being  obviously  an  illuminating 
contrivance  it  harmonises  with  most  styles 
of  decoration,  while  the  very  large  number 
of  facets  act  as  prisms,  collecting  and 
reflecting  light  in  so  many  directions  as  to 
give  a  satisfactory  degree  of  diffusion. 

With  the  comparatively  low  plaster  ceil- 
ings of  the  Tudor  and  Jacobean  periods, 
the  sconces  or  wall  brackets  for  candles 
produced  very  good  results,  as  the  light 
was  reflected  from  the  white  or  buff  sur- 
face, and  as  the  brilliancy  of  any  one  point 
was  low,  no  great  inconvenience  would  be 
felt  from  the  light  source  being  on  a  level 
with  the  normal  range  of  vision.  But  the 
intense  brilliancy  produced  from  gas  jets 
(especially  from  incandescent  mantles)  and 


268  CEILINGS 

from  electric  lamps  makes  them  very  un- 
desirable for  direct  light  within  the  ordin- 
ary plane  of  vision.  Moreover,  the  gas 
flame  or  incandescent  burner  and  electric 
bulb  do  not  lend  themselves  to  decorative 
blending  with  many  styles,  while  the  un- 
shaded lamps  produce  too  great  a  contrast 
of  light  and  shade.  Therefore  some  form 
of  screening  the  actual  source  of  light  is 
necessary.  This  may  be  attained  by  the 
use  of  ground  glass  globes,  or  those  made 
on  the  holophote  principle — with  ribbed 
surface,  by  which  diffusion  is  secured ;  or 
by  the  use  of  shades.  Any  of  these  can 
be  designed  to  harmonise  with  other  decor- 
ations. 

The  use  of  lamp  glass  with  ribs  of  differ- 
ent sizes  and  angles,  permitting  of  the 
deflection  of  light  rays  as  desired,  and  of 
inverted  shades,  suggested  the  indirect 
method  of  illumination.  The  most  com- 
mon t}rpe  is  an  inverted  bowl  pendant  from 
the  ceiling,  the  lights  being  placed  above, 
and  so  concealed  by  the  bowl.  The  result 
is  that  the  light  is  reflected  on  the  ceiling 
and  deflected  therefrom  to  walls  and  floor, 
which  gives  a  great  measure  of  diffusion. 


NOTES    ON    LIGHTING       269 

The  bowls  may  be  of  metal  or  other  opaque 
substance,  with  the  concave  portion 
polished  to  act  as  a  reflector;  or  we  may 
have  semi-transparent  substances  like 
ground  or  ribbed  glass,  opaline  or  kindred 
materials.  The  latest  innovation  is  a 
reversion  to  a  very  old  plan  to  secure 
softened  light,  translucent  alabaster  being 
employed  for  the  bowls.  It  is  quite  appar- 
ent that  such  pendant  globes  may  be 
designed  to  suit  any  style  of  ceiling,  and 
placed  so  as  to  add  to  and  not  detract  from 
the  decorative  effect. 

Another  form  of  indirect  lighting  is  to 
utilise  the  new  tubular  electric  lamps, 
either  with  filaments,  or  some  form  of  gas 
like  the  mercury  vapour  lamp,  or  the 
Moore  carbonic  acid  lamp,  these  being  con- 
cealed in  the  cornice,  and  the  light  reflected 
on  the  ceiling. 

From  indirect  lighting  the  next  step  was 
to  diffused  illumination,  the  idea  being  to 
reproduce  daylight  effects.  The  usual  way 
of  attaining  this  end  is  to  use  very  flat, 
finely  ground,  glass  bowls,  covered  in  at 
top,  and  enclosing  either  gas  or  electric 
lights.     A  large  measure  of  diffusion  is 


270  CEILINGS 

thus  secured.  Greater  effect  is  produced  if 
concave  ground  glass  bowls  are  placed  in 
the  ceiling  itself,  the  ligiit  source  being 
behind.  We  then  have  a  number  of  moons 
diffusing  light  from  overhead.  These  can 
be  easily  adjusted  to  suit  most  decorations, 
being  placed  in  coffers,  at  intersection  of 
beams,  or  made  the  centres  of  flowers  or 
some  geometric  pattern. 

Diffused    light    of   this    kind    is    well 
adapted     for     lighting     corridors,     larg 
entrance     halls,     picture     galleries     and 
museums.      But    if    the    illumination    is 
intense  enough  to  satisfy  modern  demands 
it  is  very  fatiguing  to  the  eyesight,  pro 
ducing  eye  strain  from  the  very  same  caus 
as  snow-blindness,  or  the  weariness  tha 
comes  over  those  who  have  to  suffer  th 
glare  from  a  tropical  or  semi-tropical  su 
coming  from   above  and   reflecting  fro: 
white  level  stretches  of  sand.     The  eye  i 
attacked  from  all  sides  and  is  exhausted 
The    better   way    is   to   be   content   with 
indirect  light;  or  very  soft  diffused  light 
supplemented  by  a  few  well-placed  lights. 
For   instance,   let   us   consider  a  ceiling 
divided  up  into  panels  by  means  of  beams 


II 

1 


NOTES    ON    LIGHTING       271 

or  heavy  mouldings.  Let  the  low  concave 
glass  light  diff users  be  placed  in  the  centre 
of  the  panels  or  coffers,  and  then  let  a  few 
inverted  gas  mantle  burners  or  electric 
lamps  of  low  candle  power  hang  from  the 
intersections  of  leaves  or  mouldings. 
These  will  provide  moderate  points  of 
attraction,  and  just  sufficient  variation  in 
distribution  to  relieve  the  eye.  Another 
plan  is  to  have  soft  diffused  illumination 
from  the  ceiling  supplemented  by  a  stan- 
dard or  two  used  as  reading  or  working 
lamps,  but  concealing  the  actual  source  of 
light,  having  regard  to  their  being  in  the 
direct  line  of  vision. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  from  these  few 
notes  it  will  be  gathered  that  modern 
improvements  in  illumination  should  be 
studied  from  the  aesthetic  point  of  view,  for 
it  will  then  be  seen  that  they  can  be  enlisted 
as  aids  to  the  decorative  treatment  of 
interiors. 


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INDEX 


Adam  brothers  and  modi- 
fied classic  style,   127 
Robert  and   his   plaster 
work,  200,  253 
Alhambra : 

Hall    of    the    Abencer- 

rages,  13     t 
Pictorial  ceilings,  46 
General       scheme       of 

decoration,  53 
Hall    of    the   Two   Sis- 
ters, 54 
Arabic  Script,  48 
Assyrian  architecture  and 
decoration,   21  ;    mos- 
aic, 63 

Babylonian    architecture 

and  decoration,  21 
Bramante,        uncle        of 

Raphael,    uses    white 

plaster,  185 
Bucrania  ornament,  9 
Byzantine         architecture 

and  decoration,  40 
In     the     Balkans     and 

Russia,  44 
Church  decoration,   165 

Camera,  a  room,  ancient- 
ly something  covered 
over,  3 

Canvas  preparations  for 
ceilings,  255 


Carton  pierre,  154 
Celtic  knotwork,    118 
Chinese  ceilings,  57 ;  imi- 
tation, 262 
Cinquecento,  102 
Cimabue  and  church  ceil- 
ings, 167 
Colour  schemes : 

Egyptian,  17,  21 

Asiatic,  23 

Greek,  26 

Byzantine,  42 

Moorish,  26,  50 

Turkish,   52 

Persian,  54 

Chinese,  57 

Indian,   75 ;   in   mosaic, 

75  . 

Gothic  (medieval),  59 ; 
on  timber  roofs  and 
ceilings,  138 

Heraldic,  95 

Of  the  Renaissance, 
104,  in 

Adam's,  128 

Later  degeneracy,  167 

Modern,  on  papered 
ceilings,    260 

On  half-timbered  ceil- 
ings, 264 
Constant,  Benjamin,  alle- 
gory on  ceiling  of 
H6tel  de  Ville,  Paris, 
248 
Cordova  Cathedral,  53 


277 


278 


INDEX 


Corregio  and  church  ceil- 
ings, 173 

Crane,  Walter,  and 
gesso,  203,  252 

Desachy      and      fibrous 

plaster,  254 
Diapering,  94 
Dome,   flat,   of  Asia   and 

Africa,  4,  11 
Domus    Aurea,    of    Nero, 

36,  103 

Early  Christian  Art,  162, 

208 
Egyptian  architecture  and 
decoration,      10,      12, 
17;  mosaic,  63 
Elizabethan  style,  117 
Empire  style,  ill 
Encaustic  painting: 
Greek,  26 
Roman,  34,  211 
Etruscan  architecture  and 
decoration,  31 

Ferguson     on     Bengali 

architecture,  4 
On  Chinese  ceilings,  57 
Ferro-concrete      ceilings, 

258 
Fibrous  plaster,  254 
Frescoes,  32,  212 

Gesso,  203,  252 
Gibbons,     Grinling,     and 

carved  wood  ceilings, 

124,  154 
Golden     House    of    Nero 

(see  "  Domus  Aurea  ") 
Gothic,    evolution  of   the, 

13,   80;  timber  roofs, 

134 
Greek     architecture     and 

decoration :  survivals, 

12 
Early  classic  periods,  24 
Ornament,    27 


Grotesques : 
Roman,  38 
Gothic,  87 
Neo-classic,   103 

Heraldic     designs,      g4 
117,  121 
A  lost  art,  125,  130,  151, 

160 
Tudor    use    in    plaster 
work,  1Q3 
Holbein  and  the  ceiling  of 
the  Chapel  Royal,  St 
James's  150 
Supposed        work       at 
Whitehall,  224 
Hypsethral   openings,    25, 
35,  43 

Indian    architecture    and 
decoration,  4 
Mosaic,  72 

Jacobean  style,  117 
Plaster  work,  1Q4 
Jones,  Inigo,    and   classic 
style,  118 
Plaster  work,   122,    126, 
196 
Jones,     Owen,     and     the 
"  Grammar  of    Orna- 
ment," 1 5 
On      Moorish      plaster 
work,  49 

Kent,    William,    painter 
and  designer,  125 
Plaster  work,  200. 
Kremlin,  Byzantine  decor- 
ations in  the,  45 

Lacunaria,  or  coffers,  in 
ceilings,  25,  32 

Laguerre  and  ceiling  pic- 
tures, 126,  238 


INDEX 


279 


Laloux  and  stucco  ceilings 
at  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
Tours,  112 
Line  ornaments  on  frieze, 
cornice,    and   ceiling, 
their  uses,  29 
In  Byzantine  art,  43 
Mauresque,  45 
Lighting,  from   concealed 
apertures  in  the  ceil- 
ing, 22,  25 
Effects    sought    by    the 
Byzantine  and  Maur- 
esque schools,  60 
Artificial,  265 
Diffused,  270 
Louis    style,    XlVth    and 
XVth,  105  ;  XVth  and 
XVIth,  no 

MacDonell        on       the 

stupa,  5 
Mauresque       architecture 

and  decoration,  45 
Mechanical      devices      in 

ceilings,  34,  35 
Metal  ceilings,  257 
Michel   Angelo  and   mos- 
aic work,  69, 
His  painting,   168 
His  work  at  the  Sistine 

Chapel,   168,   216 
Work  in  fresco,  213 
Mohammedan  decoration, 

45 
Monreale,  mosaics  in  the 

Cathedral  of,  65,  69 
Montfaucon,  and  mechan- 
ical   devices    in    ceil- 
ings, 35 
On     transparent     roofs 
and  ceilings,  36 
Mosaics — 

In  Rome,  36,  63 
Moorish,  47 
Persian,  54 
Volcanic,  64 


Mosaics  continued — 

Glass,  65 

Byzantine,  68 

Turkish,  71 

Indian,  72 

Assists  in  emphasising 
and  modifying  visual 
effects,  76 

Michel  Angelo  and  mos- 
aic designs,  69 

And  painting,  176 

In  St  Paul's  Cathedral, 
178 

Nonsuch,  plaster  work  on 
the  Palace  of,  189 

Norman  style 

(see  "  Romanesque  ") 

Oil  painting,  213,  225 

Pagodas,  6 
Painting : 

Egyptian  method,  17 
Roman,  32 
Moorish,  46 
Early  Christian,  208 
Palladio    on    the     classic 

style,  104 
Paper,    figured,    on    ceil- 
ings, 260 
Pendants,  Gothic,  83 
Penni,       Giovanni,       his 
stucco  work  in  Italy, 
185 
Luca  and  Bartolommeo, 
their  plaster  work   in 
England,  189 
Perugino,  215 
Persian    Mauresque,   54 
Pictorial  ceilings,   107;  in 

England,  224 
Plaster : 

Mauresque  prisms,  48 
In    France,     no,     122, 

129,  182 
In  England,  187 
Renaissance,  211 


28o 


INDEX 


Plaster  continued — 
Modern,  250 
Fibrous,    254    (see  also 
"  Stucco  ") 
Pliny— 

On  ceiling  decoration,  34 
On  the    Domus  Aurea, 

36 
On  mosaics,  63 
Pompeian  remains,  38,  67 
Primaticcio,       Francesco, 
his    stucco    work    in 
France,  186 
Pyramids,  g 

Queen  Anne  style,  semi- 
Dutch  and  semi-Jaco- 
bean, 1  go, 

Raphael : 

Designs  for  mosaics,  70 
His     study    of     classic 

models,   100 
Rocaille  work,  105 
His   use   of  plaster  and 

stucco,   185 
His   work   at   the   Vati- 
can, 101,  185,  216 
Frescoes,  213 
Reade,  Charles,  on  modern 

plaster  ceilings,  250 
Renaissance     architecture 
and  decoration,  g7 
In  Italy,  gg 
In  France,  105,  108 
In  England,  115 
Richmond,     Sir    W.     B., 
and     mosaic     designs 
for  St  Paul's,  i7g 
Robinson,     G.     T.,     and 

gesso  work,  253 
Rocaille,  105 
Rococo,  105 

Roman    architecture    and 
decoration,    30 ;    mos- 
aic, 63 
Romanesque   architecture 
and  decoration,  78 


Romano,  Guilio,  pupil 
and  executor  of 
Raphael's  decorative 
work,  185 

Rubens : 

Oil    paintings    for    the 
Banqueting  Hall, 

Whitehall,  121,  225 
Paintings  for  the  Jesu- 
its' Church,  Antwerp, 

175 
Ruskin    on     the    Renais- 
sance, gg 
On    Veronese    work    at 
Venice,  220 


St  Paul's  Cathedral,  75, 

177 
St  Peter's,  Rome,  75 
St  Mark's,  Venice,  6g 
Sansovino      and      stucco, 

106,   185,  2ig 
Saracenic    style,    45    (see 

also   "  Mauresque  ") 
Serlio  on  ceiling  designs, 

104,  i4g 
Simpson  on  Greek  archi- 
tecture    and    decora- 
tion, 25 
Sky: 
The  ceiling  painted  as, 

14 
In  Egypt,  18 
In  Rome,  34 
In  modern  Italy,  173 
At  old  Carlton  House, 
248 
Stucco — 
In  Egypt,   18 
In  Assyria,  22 
Greek,  25 
Roman,  32,  183 
Renaissance,   102,  211 
At  Nonsuch  Palace,  i8g 
At  Venice,  2ig 
Stupas,  5 


INDEX 


281 


Symbolism : 
Egyptian,  18 
Semitic,   19 

Greeks,   19,  22,  27,  207 
Romans,  19 
Assyrians,  22 
Roman    and    Egyptian 

contrasted,  39 
Byzantine,   43 
Mohammedan,  46 
Early  Christian,  48,  70, 

162 
Renaissance,  104 
The  rose,  250 

Tempera,  32,  210,  213 
Thornhill,       Sir      James, 
work  at  St  Paul's,  177 
At  Greenwich  Hospital, 

239 
Timber    ceilings,     Maur- 

esque,  55 
Timber  roofs,  132 
Tintoretto,    219 
Transparent    stone    roofs, 

theory  of,  36 
Tudor  plaster  work,  191 
Turkish  Mauresque,  52 

Udine,  Giovanni  da,  and 
his  decorative  work  in 
Rome,  102,  185 


VARRO  and  mechanical 
devices  in  ceilings,  35 

Vatican,  The,  and  Ra- 
phael's work,   101 

Venice,  mosaic  work,  69 ; 
stucco  decoration,  105 

Veronese,  Paul,  107,  219, 
221 

Verrio,  his  ceiling  pic- 
tures, 126;  work  in 
England,  228 

Violet  le  Due  on  Arabic 
decoration,  51 

Vitruvian  scroll,  101 

Vitruvius,  26,  183 

Vittorio's  stucco  work,  106 


Watteau,  no 
Westminster  Abbey,  81 
Whitehall         Banqueting 

Hall       ceiling,        by 

Rubens,  225 
Wood,  Anthony  £,  an  old 

reed   roof   at  Oxford, 

3 
Wren,     Sir     Christopher, 

and  classic  style,  123 
Sheldonian  timber  roof 

(flat),   147 
Plaster  work,  198,  253 


PRINTED    AT  THE    NEWOASTLE-UPON-TYNE    PRESS 
WATERLOO    HOUSE,    THORNTON    STREET 


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